Huddersfield Town welcome Luton Town to John Smith’s Stadium in the second leg of their 2021-22 Championship Play-Off semi-final.
With the tie locked at 1-1 after Luton’s Sonny Bradley cancelled out Daniel Sinani’s opener in the first leg, victory would see either team advance to the final otherwise extra time and possibly penalties will be required.
Team News
Levi Colwill could return for Huddersfield after he was named as an eventual unused substitute in the first leg, having struggled for fitness after returning to training after a brief illness.
Ollie Turton (knock) is a doubt but Ryan Schofield (shoulder) and Alex Vallejo (knee) remain ruled out.
Luton have recalled striker, Josh Neufville from his loan spell at Yeovil Town in order to bolster their squad for this crunch clash, amidst a continued injury crisis.
Elijah Adebayo remains a doubt as he continues to near a first-team return from a hamstring injury.
Fred Onyedinma (groin), Jed Steer (Achilles), Glen Rea, Reece Burke, Gabriel Osho (all hamstring), Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu (knee) and James Shea (cruciate) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Huddersfield are unbeaten in their last five meetings against Luton (W1, D4).
- Luton have won just one of their last five visits to Huddersfield (W1, D2, L2).
- Each of Huddersfield’s last five EFL play-off matches have finished in draws (D5), with three of those draws finishing goalless.
- Luton have lost three of their last four away legs in play-off semi-finals (W1, L3), with their only win coming 3-0 at Wrexham in 2010-11 Conference Premier Play-Offs en route to defeat in the Final.
- The team who finished the Championship regular season in third has reached four of the last five Play-Off Finals, which is a positive omen for Huddersfield.
Prediction
Having enjoyed a strong attacking performance at Kenilworth Road on Friday despite often getting frustrated by Luton’s spirited defence, Huddersfield now just need to replicate that effort at home but more clinically because their pressing on the counter-attack looks their best asset here.
Luton meanwhile don’t look like a team with an injury crisis given their team spirit with great energy within their attacking movement, although they did defend well overall too once they settled down after a sluggish start against a fast-paced Huddersfield attack.
Nathan Jones’ Hatters though don’t have a good away record at Huddersfield nor in recent away legs of previous play-off semi-finals, so they’re battling history but if they can start well and cause the same tactical issues like they did on Friday then they can believe Wembley is possible.
I however have a feeling that this could be Huddersfield’s to lose if they can find a way to build on their effort in the first leg, whilst also handling any tactical games which Luton try to throw their way but it could well be scrappy and tense again.
Prediction: Huddersfield 2-1 Luton
Result: Huddersfield 1-0 Luton (Huddersfield win 2-1 on aggregate!!)
Leave a Reply