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Luton Town vs West Ham betting tips:
- Luton or draw - 11/10 with Unibet
- Under 2.5 goals - 10/11 with bet365
- Over 4.5 cards - 49/50 with BetUK
Luton Town will play their first Premier League home game when West Ham United come to town on Friday (8pm, Sky Sports).
Kenilworth Road has had to undergo renovation work in order to comply with top-flight regulations, but the stadium is now ready and raring to go.
Luton fans will have been looking forward to this fixture for some time but West Ham are in excellent form and will provide a stern test.
The Hatters are the underdogs with football betting sites as they strive to win their first match in the top tier of English football since 1992.
Luton vs West Ham tips: Hatters could get a result
It has been a difficult start to life in the big time for Luton. They kicked things off with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion, then had a week off.
On their return to action last week, they slumped to a 3-0 loss to Chelsea. It leaves Rob Edwards’ side still searching for their first point of the campaign.
Luton, in truth, were outclassed in both of their games to date. Deservedly promoted from the Championship last term, they have not yet shown they can compete in the Premier League.
There are mitigating circumstances, though. Matches at Brighton and Chelsea are not exactly ones you would expect a promoted team to win or even draw.
Luton are also having to integrate eight new faces, six of whom appeared at Stamford Bridge.
The Hatters should be a much tougher team to play against at Kenilworth Road, where their fans will create a raucous atmosphere on Friday evening.
There will be a real buzz around the ground and West Ham will have to successfully deal with the crowd if they are to emerge victorious.
The Hammers are the better team but Luton could pull a result out of the bag here.
Tip: Luton or draw - 11/10 with Unibet
Luton must keep things tight to avoid defeat
West Ham have made a fantastic start to the new season. A 1-1 draw with Bournemouth represented a solid rather than spectacular start, but David Moyes’ men followed that up with hugely impressive 3-1 victories over both Chelsea and Brighton.
It is fair to say that West Ham delivered much better performances against that duo than Luton did and it is hard to see the hosts winning an end-to-end contest here.
West Ham have more speed in transition and more all-round attacking quality than their upcoming opponents. They would relish a game like that.
Luton will instead look to give West Ham a taste of their own medicine. They will sit deep, pack men behind the ball and look to break forward with direct attacks.
Their best chance of avoiding defeat is to keep things tight at the back. West Ham, meanwhile, have often struggled in the Moyes era to break down teams that stand off and allow them the ball.
For those two reasons, this is unlikely to be a high-scoring encounter.
Tip: Under 2.5 goals - 10/11 with bet365
Expect a scrappy affair under the lights
On a similar note, it would suit Luton to make this a scrappy game.
There will be plenty of physicality on show from the home team and West Ham are well equipped to match them in that regard.
Referees have not exactly been shy to fill up their notebooks so far this season. A clampdown on dissent and time-wasting is under way and several players have already fallen foul of the new directive.
There has already been 130 yellow cards and nine reds distributed this season (only three clubs have been issued more bookings than West Ham). With 29 games played so far, that works out at about 4.8 cards per game.
For this wager to come through, then, Friday’s clash would only have to match the average.
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Last Updated: 14th March 2024, 07:22 AM
