Match Preview
Everton travel to Bedfordshire to face Luton Town for a Friday night kick-off looking to build on a recent record of four wins from five that has vaulted them away from the threat of being relegated to the Championship.
It’s the first time the Toffees have played at Kenilworth Road since 1991 when a Robert Warzycha goal was enough to earn Howard Kendall’s men all three points in what was then Football League Division One, and current boss, Sean Dyche, will be hoping for a similar result.
Everton may be free of relegation worries, which is quite the contrast from when this match was moved for live broadcast by Sky Sports in the hope staging a “six-pointer” at the bottom of the Premier League but they will be keen to avoid the unwanted distinction of having been beaten three times by the Hatters in one season.
Luton beat Dyche’s men at their own set-piece game in the reverse League fixture at the end of September and then dumped them out of the FA Cup in the Fourth Round in late January, and a hat-trick of victories over the Blues would provide them a massive boost in their own hopes of avoiding the drop back to the Championship.
Rob Edwards’s side come into the game sitting in the relegation zone, a point ahead of Burnley and a point behind Nottingham Forest, with the Clarets hosting Newcastle while the Trees must go to already demoted Sheffield United as they await the verdict from an Appeal Board that could yet change the points situation down at the bottom still further.
Luton, who will likely feature former Everton players Ross Barkley and Andros Townsend, look set to be without eight first-teamers, with skipper Tom Lockyer, Marvelous Nakamba, Dan Potts, Chiedozie Ogbene, Issa Kabore, Mars Andersen and Amrai’i Bell all sidelined.
For Everton, Beto, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Seamus Coleman all rejoined first-team training this week to vie for a place in Dyche’s line-up but James Tarkowski missed training as he and his wife expect the imminent birth of a baby.
That could keep the defender from travelling this weekend and provide the opportunity of a rare start for Michael Keane.
Beto, meanwhile, has missed the last two games after being knocked unconscious during the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest and was sidelined by the Premier League’s concussion protocol.
Calvert-Lewin picked up a knock to his knee in the same game and then came down with a stomach illness but played through the Merseyside derby victory over Liverpool before being rested against Brentford at the weekend while Coleman has recovered from the groin strain he sustained in the defeat at Chelsea in the middle of last month.
Like DCL, the Club captain has not had the benefit of a full week’s training but should he be available, it will provide Dyche with an additional option at full-back where both Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko are both missing after suffering season-ending hamstring and ankle injuries respectively.
Kick-off: 8pm, Friday 3 May 2024
Referee: Tim Robinson
VAR: David Coote
Last Time: Luton Town 0 – 1 Everton (November 1991)
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Godfrey, Keane, Branthwaite, Young, Gueye, Garner, Harrison, McNeil, Doucouré, Beto