The opening weekend of the Sky Bet Championship season concludes at Kenilworth Road on Monday evening when two of the three favourites for the title meet as Luton and Burnley clash to start their quest for an immediate return to the top flight.
These two were both Premier League teams last season and both will want to be playing in the top flight next term and this could give us an early indication of who is best placed to achieve that aim over the coming months.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build-up beginning at 7.30pm ahead of the 8pm kick off.
Luton Town
Luton made a big impression in their only season in the Premier League to date last term and picked up a number of casual admirers for the way that they went about their business. They have the chance here to lay a marker down and show that they can play a similar style in the Championship as the bid to bounce back at the first opportunity. The important thing for the Hatters heading into the season is that they have plenty of continuity with Rob Edwards still very much at the helm and the majority of the squad he had last term still in place.
Edwards has been quite open with the fact that Luton are going to continue to look to entertain and go after their opposition in high areas even if that does leave them exposed at the back. He will know that long-term in this division his side isn’t going to be punished as ruthlessly as it was in the Premier League for their mistakes but whether that approach works for them here remains to be seen. Some defensive injuries might just have forced his hand.
Burnley
Unlike their opponents here, Burnley don’t start their first season back down in the Championship with the same manager. Vincent Kompany departed for Bayern Munich and his assistant Craig Bellamy has taken on the Wales job. Scott Parker is the man given the task of leading the Clarets back to the top division, something he has already done at two previous clubs having led Fulham and Bournemouth to the Premier League as a manager.
Burnley haven’t lost too many of the squad which they brought down with them but it will be interesting to see what tactical tweaks that Parker has been able to install in his side ahead of this game. The Kompany style was unique and demanding whereas Parker is a little more direct in his nature, although it is hard to be less direct than Kompany. There will be no passing for passing sake in this Burnley side when they settle down you would think.
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Team News
Luton boss Rob Edwards will be without the likes of Daiki Hashioka, Marvelous Nakamba, Amari’i Bell, Mads Andersen and Reece Burke for this match but Teden Mengi has been training and should be good to go. Shandon Baptiste and Reuell Walters are in line for debuts.
Scott Parker has confirmed that he remains without Aaron Ramsey and Nathan Redmond for this match but other than those he has a full squad to choose from. Vaclav Hladky is expected to make his debut between the sticks.
Betting
It looks like we have saved the best for last with two fancied teams battling it out under the floodlights on a night where there is going to be a lot of quality on show and two teams who want to get the ball won high up and do some damage when they have it. I think Burnley are going to be more of a work in progress than Luton Town are going to be given the stability of the home side during the summer, but it is goals which interest me here.
Luton are going to be without the wider two of their back three for this one and that could mean that two teenagers are in the back line for the Hatters but Burnley are likely to be missing Dara O’Shea who has been linked with a move back to the Premier League. There is no shortage of classy attacking players on show here and in what has been a high scoring opening weekend in the Championship, I don’t see the final game of it breaking the trend. I really like over 2.5 goals in this one.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 5/10 stake at 1.90 with Unibet
