Three things Luton Town needs to do to remain in the Premier League this season

It is seen that the newly promoted sides in the Premier League often get relegated in a season or two and hardly make a top-10 finish in their time. Luton Town could be the exception, though. The team is playing beautiful and exciting football under Rob Edwards.

Luton town looked fearless playing against the big guns in the League and even snatched points from teams like Liverpool, Wolves and Everton. They are currently 17th in the league with one win and three draws from 11 games. They level with the Bournemouth team, with only the goal difference separating both teams. More importantly, they have a mountain to climb, as they are 5 points adrift of 16th-placed Everton.

Luton Town still has time but needs to work on some points to stay in the top flight.

3 Things Luton Town must do to stay in the Premier League

Finishing the chances created

Luton Town scored ten goals in the 11 games, which is 15th overall in the league. They have missed 15 big chances in the games, which could have won them a game or two in the league. That’s a difference of at least 5 points – a huge margin considering the difficulty of the EPL. Englishman Morris is the team’s top scorer, with three goals in 11 games. These goals include two penalties. He is their main target man, who attempted an average of 2.5 shots on target per game.

Looking at their formation over the small sample size – Luton Town has Obgene and Jacob Brown making strides toward opponents’ goals. Obgene has scored a goal this season, but Jacob is yet to open scoring despite taking a respectable 1.5 shots on goal. Some more clinical finishing from Jacobs and Morris would put them well above the relegation fight.

Defending threaded passes

Goals certainly win games for any team, but protecting their own goal should be the primary focus for Luton Town, especially with their forward line misfiring. The Hatters are finding it difficult to cope with the fast counterattacks and even a through ball.

Zimbabwe international Nakamba has been their star in the defence. He leads the league with 3.4 tackles won per game, but he is also a card away from missing a game. 29-year-old Bell has supported him well, but no other Luton player looks effective in defence. This forces Rob Edwards to field eight players in their half, limiting the offensive options also. While the team has done well dealing with the aerial passes, they are often seen struggling against quick one-twos between opponents.

Holding on to the ball

There is no explanation required here. If a team has less possession of the ball, there are minimum chances of winning points from the game. The team has an average of 35.4% possession till now, which indicates how poor the team has been keeping the hold of the ball.

To score a goal, the team is heavily reliant on their wings and counterattack plays. Through and long balls from the middle of the field have been Luton’s focus in attack, but it often resulted in losing possession. Compact and small progressive passes should solve the issue for Luton Town.

Luton Town will visit Old Trafford for their away game this Saturday. This would be their first PL encounter with the Red Devils. Manchester United has its own struggles at home this season.