Preview:Luton Town vs AFC Wimbledon - prediction, team news, lineups

The League One campaign gets underway on Friday night when relegated Luton Town welcome newly-promoted AFC Wimbledon to Kenilworth Road.

Less than 18 months ago, Luton were a Premier League club, while Wimbledon were lingering in mid-table in League Two, with the two now facing off in a league encounter.

Match preview

The opening weekend has thrown up a clash between the bookies’ favourites to win the title against the favourites to be relegated down to League Two.

Luton failed to readjust back to life in the Championship, and against all odds suffered back-to-back relegations in a season to forget.

In one of the tightest relegation battles in many years, goal difference was Luton’s undoing, finishing below Hull City despite ending the campaign level on points.

Matt Bloomfield was brought in during the final stretch, and was unable to turn the tide, but the club have stuck with the former Wycombe Wanderers manager, who joined in January.

Hopes will be higher this time around, as Luton are favourites to go back up to the Championship, and their results in preseason have been promising.

Boreham Wood, Gillingham and Southend have all been beaten with ease, as were Slovenian side Triglav, who were thumped 8-1 by the Hatters.

Luton completed their preparations by drawing 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, restricting the Premier League outfit to just two shots in 90 minutes, which should fill them with plenty of confidence heading into the league season.

This will be a first clash between the clubs since the 2018-19 season, when they also met in League One, and Luton won away from home, but the score ended 2-2 here at Kenilworth.

Johnny Jackson’s Wimbledon will be very happy with a repeat of that result this time around, in a very tricky start to life back in the third tier.

After coming fifth, Wimbledon beat Notts County and Walsall to be the slightly surprise winner of the League Two playoffs in May.

The visitors will hope their results in preseason are not a sign of things to come though, because it has a been a struggle for the Dons so far, losing their final three matches against Millwall, Sutton United and Southend, with the latter being worrying, losing to a non-league club on the eve of the new campaign.

Luton Town Preseason form:

W W W W D

AFC Wimbledon Preseason form:

D W D L L L

Team News

Luton have added numerous players with EFL experience in hopes of getting them back up to the Championship at the first time of asking, with Kal Naismith, George Saville and Nahki Wells among the notable names to join this summer.

Josh Keeley is arguably the most exciting signing, as the young stopper has arrived from Spurs for £1m, and kept a clean sheet against his former club last weekend, but on the injury list, Elijah Adebayo and Jacob Brown will be notable absentees.

Thelo Aasgard has left for Rangers just six months after moving to Kenilworth Road though, and long-serving Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu has also departed, following 12 years of service with the Hatters.

For Wimbledon, they have been able to welcome Sam Hutchinson and Omar Bugiel back from injury over the course of preseason, and the two could well feature here.

The visitors have also made a notable addition between the sticks, and it could be a busy season for Nathan Bishop, who has moved to the Cherry Red Records Stadium from Sunderland.

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Keeley; Walters, Makosso, Andersen, Naismith; Alli, Lonwijk, Clark; Baptiste, Wells, Saville

AFC Wimbledon possible starting lineup:

Bishop; Harbottle, Ogundere, Johnson; Hippolyte, Smith, Reeves, Hutchinson, Seddon; Stevens, Browne

We say: Luton Town 2-0 AFC Wimbledon

If the bookies are correct, Luton should finish top while Wimbledon will be sent back packing to League Two in 24th, and even though it does not always work out like that, the hosts will be heavily fancied to get off to a strong start here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.