Luton Town meet Middlesbrough at Kenilworth Road in a blockbuster Sky Bet Championship clash in race for automatic promotion.
Victory would see Luton stay third but move four points clear of fourth-placed Middlesbrough and keep their faint automatic promotion dreams alive.
Boro meanwhile will leapfrog their hosts into third with a win.
Team News
Luton have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 1-1 draw at Reading in midweek.
Gabriel Osho (knee), Reece Burke (groin), Dan Potts (hamstring) and Jack Walton (muscle) remain absent.
Middlesbrough could be without Paddy McNair after he suffered a knock during their midweek win against Hull.
Tommy Smith (rib) and Marcus Forss (ankle) are doubtful after both were substituted against Hull and manager, Michael Carrick could opt to rest the pair with one eye on the upcoming play-offs.
Dael Fry (Achilles/ankle), Sonny Finch (unspecified) Riley McGree, Aaron Ramsey (both ankle) and Matt Clarke (back) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Luton host Middlesbrough in a 8pm BST kick-off at Kenilworth Road on Monday 24 April, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- Luton have claimed eight points from their last seven meetings against Middlesbrough (W2, D2, L3).
- Middlesbrough are winless in their last six visits to Luton (D3, L3).
- Both teams have scored six goals across each of their last four meetings, with Luton and Boro both scoring in all four clashes.
- Luton have kept three clean sheets in their last five home games (W4, D1).
- Middlesbrough have won just one of their last four away games (W1, D1, L2), which came in a 3-1 win at Swansea in March 2023.
Prediction
With a play-off spot assured, Luton now can afford to relax especially given their defensive injuries but they have to show more energy in their attacking intensity than they did at Reading, where they did look slightly knackered up front at times with lacklustre end product despite a solid defensive effort.
Middlesbrough meanwhile are in the same situation in terms of having sealed a play-off spot and having injuries to deal with, although I do hope that McGree and Ramsey aren’t risked too early because they could play an important role come the play-offs.
Boro though were wasteful in the first-half of their comeback win against Hull but dominated the second-half, which was more like the performance which blew Norwich apart just over a week ago so I do hope that they can come and take the fight to a possibly fatigued Luton team.
Although both teams have very faint automatic promotion hopes, this game feels like a dead rubber which will only determine who finishes third and fourth respectively, because both teams are already in the play-offs and almost guaranteed home advantage in the second leg.
I am therefore intrigued as to how both clubs approach this match because they still have a slim chance at automatic promotion, yet they probably will have one eye on the play-offs now so I am not expecting a classic and wouldn’t be surprised if this finishes level.
Should there indeed be a winner then my instinct would be on Boro given their goalscoring form, especially if Forss is available for selection.
Prediction: Luton 1-1 Middlesbrough
Result: Luton 2-1 Middlesbrough
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