Liverpool vs. Luton Town: Line-ups, team news and prediction

On Wednesday night, Liverpool will host Luton Town at their Anfield headquarters in an attempt to extend their Premier League home run of victories to 25 games.

The Reds, who were atop the table, crushed Brentford 4-1 at noon on Saturday, one day before Manchester United defeated the Hatters 2-1 at Kenilworth Road.

Match Preview

After suffering three injuries in the first half of their early kickoff against Brentford, Liverpool enjoyed a more welcome trifecta in the second half at the Gtech Community Stadium, where, in terms of the Premier League, third time was lucky for Jurgen Klopp.

The Uruguayan was among three players who did not return for the second half after Darwin Nunez’s brilliant chip gave Liverpool the lead. However, three more goals came from the feet of Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah, and Cody Gakpo, negating the significance of Ivan Toney’s finish.

The typical Klopp fist pumps were in full swing before attention shifted to the injured visitors, but it didn’t take long for the Merseyside supporters to start celebrating once more; with Manchester City’s defeat at the hands of Chelsea, the Reds now hold the power to win the top flight.

No matter what happens in Tuesday’s match between the champions and Brentford, Liverpool will still be on top. The Reds haven’t lost at home in a Premier League match since Leeds United’s stunning victory in October 2022. They are currently two points ahead of Arsenal and four ahead of City after playing the same number of games.

Liverpool is still undefeated in all competitions held at their home ground in the 2023–24 season. They have also scored two goals or more in each of their last five victories there. However, they have yet to keep a clean sheet at Anfield in 2024, having given up goals in seven consecutive games on their home field.

Although Liverpool has occasionally faltered defensively in otherwise commanding victories, Luton was left to regret an early mistake in their match against Man United on Sunday, as the latter’s main man Rasmus Hojlund scored the game’s sixth goal in a row after Amari’i Bell misplayed a backpass.

With less than ten minutes remaining, the Dane’s improvised chest finish doubled the Red Devils’ lead. Carlton Morris did manage to pull one back for the Hatters, but the newly promoted team would not have a spectacular comeback against the 20-time English champions.

Even though Rob Edwards and company pulled off some incredible last-ditch defensive heroics, Man United could have and probably should have won by an even bigger margin. However, these heroics will mean little if the Hatters are eliminated on Monday night.

After ending January with three straight victories, the feel-good factor has worn off for the Hatters, who are now winless in three straight games. Everton will condemn Luton to at least 48 hours in the relegation zone if they can at least grab a point from Crystal Palace.

The visitors can find solace in their three-game Premier League winning streak in away games and their hard-fought 1-1 draw with Liverpool earlier in the season, but they haven’t triumphed in any of their prior 14 visits to Anfield; in their professional history, they have gone winless away from home against no other team.

Team news

During the first half of Saturday’s match against Brentford, the Liverpool medical staff more than proved their worth. Curtis Jones (shin) and Diogo Jota (knee) were substituted before the half, while Nunez was also declared out of the game at halftime owing to pain.

Nunez and Jones haven’t been formally ruled out of Wednesday’s match yet, but Klopp has acknowledged that Jota’s knee issue seems serious, meaning Salah will probably start for Liverpool for the first time since New Year’s Day.

The following players are still sidelined ahead of this weekend’s EFL Cup final: Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Joel Matip (knee), Ben Doak (knee), Thiago Alcantara (muscle), Dominik Szoboszlai (thigh), and Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee). Alisson Becker injured his hamstring during Liverpool’s final pre-Brentford training session, meaning Caoimhin Kelleher will be starting in the Premier League for the third time in a row.

Edwards may sympathise with Klopp regarding the need for offensive substitutions, as Luton’s leading scorer Elijah Adebayo sustained a hamstring injury during Sunday’s warm-up. The Hatters manager was also unaware of the seriousness of the striker’s issue during the match.

Adebayo is on the list of injured players along with captain Tom Lockyer (calf), Marvellous Nakamba (knee), and Mads Andersen (calf). Lockyer has stated that he is not sure whether he will ever play competitively again after his second painful collapse.

January signature Edwards should be working with the same group of players from Sunday’s loss, in which Cauley Woodrow replaced Adebayo up top, since Daiki Hashioka is also being gradually introduced into action and might not be considered for his debut at Anfield.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Gomez, M.salah, Diaz, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Endo, Mac Allister and Gakpo

Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski;  Morris, Bell, Osho, Mengi; Ogbene, Barkley, Lokonga, Doughty; Townsend, Chong.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-0 Luton Town

The Hatters have shown resilience away from home in recent weeks, and Luton’s performance against a Man United team that was scoring freely was praiseworthy, but losing the aerially dominant Adebayo is a huge blow.

Because of this, Liverpool supporters can celebrate their team’s first clean sheet since the beginning of the year. Despite the team’s mounting injury list, they still have enough attacking energy to wear out Luton’s weary defence.