Dreams to Reality: Luton Town’s Premier League Survival Hopes Soar

At the start of the season, Luton Town were labelled as ‘The Next Derby County’ by many but have since massively proved those critics wrong. Their brilliantly brave performance at Newcastle United in yesterday’s 4-4 draw at St. James’ Park perfectly summarised the attitude of Rob Edwards’ side so far this season.

With the Hatters currently sitting 16th in the Premier League with 20 points from 22 games, survival is starting to look all the more realistic for Luton.

Finding Their Feet:

Luton Town suffered an awfully slow start to the season and many thought that their pre-season predictions had come true already. The Hatters only won one of their first 12 Premier League games, with an away victory at Everton being the only win.

Respectable performances against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City provided a glimmer of hope, but survival still looked almost impossible. However, since their defeat to Manchester City on December 10th, Luton Town have lost just one of their nine games across all competitions since.

The Hatters have picked up impressive wins against the likes of Newcastle United, Everton, Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield United since then. They’ve also reached the FA Cup Fifth Round, where they will face Manchester City.

Impressive Goal-Scoring Record

Many questioned whether the likes of Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo could make the step up to the Premier League, but the duo have enjoyed solid debut seasons in the top flight. Morris currently sits on five goals and four assists in the Premier League, whilst Adebayo has managed an impressive nine goals already.

Between the two target-men alone, that’s 14 goals and four assists, which puts them amongst the strike partnerships of the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City.

As a team, the Hatters have scored an impressive 32 goals in 22 games. This is more than Sheffield United, Burnley, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Fulham and even Manchester United.

Standout Performers

Eyebrows were raised when Luton Town announced the signing of Ross Barkley from Nice in the summer, but the former Everton and Chelsea midfielder has hit the ground running at Kenilworth Road. The 30-year-old has quickly established himself as an integral cog in Edwards’ tactical system.

A number of Luton’s players from their Championship squad have stepped up to great effect since their promotion. Defenders Alfie Doughty, Gabriel Osho and Amari Bell have been brilliant under Edwards, especially in the devastating absence of Tom Lockyer.

Tricky wingers Chiedozie Ogbene and Tahith Chong were also signed in the summer and have provided moments of brilliance that have often sparked the hope amongst the Luton Town faithful.

Relegation or Safety?

Luton Town are currently well and truly defying expectations and are currently in much better form than their relegation rivals in Sheffield United, Burnley, Everton and Nottingham Forest.

Their chances could be bolstered even further with the looming Financial Fair Play punishments for both Nottingham Forest and Everton, which previously saw the Toffees deducted ten points. If these two clubs were to lose ten points, they would both move to the bottom of the league and be at least ten points behind the Hatters in the league.

Therefore, I back Luton to pull of their miracle of survival and instead I suspect that it could be Nottingham Forest to lose their place in return.