There is one match left in the Sky Bet Championship before the final round of matches and it comes from Kenilworth Road on Tuesday evening as Luton Town host Rotherham United in a clash which could have a massive say in who exits the division through the trapdoor this term.
Rotherham United go into the match in the bottom three in the Championship table but a win will lift them out of the drop zone at the expense of Derby County. Luton were in the same position as Rotherham last term are playing purely for position this time around.
Where to watch
With there being plenty on the line Sky have exercised their right to show the match in full. It will therefore be on the Sky Main Event and Sky Football channels with the build up beginning at 7pm and the match kicking off at 7.15pm.
Luton Town
With two matches remaining last season, Luton Town had to win both and hope the gods shone down on them in order to remain in the Championship. They did exactly that and have kicked on in some style under Nathan Jones this term. They are guaranteed to be in the division next season and a win here will secure a top half finish, which when you consider the disadvantages they are under in this league, would crown a wonderful achievement. Make no mistake about it that is very much the aim from here on in.
This has been a season of development for the Hatters too. They started it as the defensively resolute one which finished last term but since the turn of the year there has been a clear intent to move back to the offensive side that they were coming up through the lower leagues. They now have energy, press high and cause plenty of threat to the opposition goal without really losing too much defensive stability. This is a dead rubber from a competitive point for Luton but they really want that top half finish so they will be right at it here.
Rotherham United
You have to give a lot of credit to Rotherham United to still be fighting in the battle for survival this late into the campaign. There are many reasons why I say that. This was always going to be a difficult season for them, despite the legitimate arguments that the point deduction given to Sheffield Wednesday made things marginally easier for them. The one thing they didn’t need was two waves of Covid-19 ripping through their squad.
That has left them with a ridiculously tough schedule to finish the season with and while they are in the home straight now with the end in sight, you can’t switch tiredness on and off and their manager Paul Warne admitted he has a jaded squad after the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at the weekend. Despite that they have the incentive of knowing their destiny remains in their own hands. If they win here and at Cardiff on Saturday they will have another season of Championship football despite just one point coming from their last six matches and one win from their last 10.
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Team News
Luton remain without Tom Lockyer, Tom Ince and Danny Hylton while Luke Berry is a doubt. George Moncur and Kazenga LuaLua will be looking for an opportunity having missed out from the start in the draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Rotherham United welcome midfielder Matt Crooks back into their side for this match after he has served his three game suspension. Viktor Johansson has recovered from the concussion he picked up recently but Paul Warne might stick with Jamal Blackman between the sticks. Angus MacDonald and Ben Wiles are doubts.
Betting
The odds don’t make a huge amount of sense to me here. I understand the philosophy of one team needs to win and the other doesn’t but that doesn’t mean that team will win and even though Luton Town don’t need to win they definitely want to win because they think a top half finish represents significant improvement which they judge themselves on. That is evidenced with them coming into this match in their best form of the season. They are undefeated in five matches with three wins in that time and creditable draws with Reading and Middlesbrough in which they were the better side in both. Rotherham have needed to win for a while but their recent return is five defeats and a draw and while picking up those results it has become more and more obvious that they are getting increasingly jaded. I think the 1.84 on the +0.25 handicap on the home side is something of a gift here.
The other bet I like in the match revolve around the shots on target for Harry Cornick. In front of goal this has been a frustrating season for the winger turned forward with his only goal coming in the recent win over Bristol City but he’ll be motivated to finish the season with a flourish and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets into some dangerous positions here up front alongside Elijah Adebayo. The prices on his shots on target lines are extraordinary. Why I think he’ll get into decent positions is he has bags of pace and against a side who we have all seen on Sky recently are knackered he could run them ragged. Luton have creators in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jordan Clark among others so I expect Cornick to be in positions to find the target. I’ll back him to hit the target once with a smaller bet on two or more as they are crazy prices for an out and out attacker regardless of his scoring return this season, particularly as this bet doesn’t require him putting the ball in the back of the net.
Tips
HALF WON – Back Luton Town (+0.25AH) to beat Rotherham United for a 5/10 stake at 1.84 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Back H.Cornick 1+ Shots on Target for a 1/10 stake at 4.20 with Betfair
Back H.Cornick 2+ Shots of Target for a 0.5/10 stake at 26.00 with Betfair
Back them here:
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