Preview: Luton Town vs. Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups

Both Luton Town and Birmingham City will be aiming to build on early signs of promise in the Championship when they meet on Saturday afternoon.

After three games of the season, the Hatters are seventh in the table on six points and the Blues are 14th with four points.

Match preview

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Summer signing Amari'i Bell netted the only goal of the game in the fourth minute as Luton won 1-0 away at last season's beaten playoff semi-finalists Barnsley on Tuesday evening.

Nathan Jones praised his side for digging deep to defend against the Tykes' pressure and bounce back from the weekend's 3-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.

A promising transfer window, in which the likes of Fred Onyedinma, Henri Lansbury and Allan Campbell have arrived at Kenilworth Road, has seen Luton tipped by some to make a playoff push this year and they started the campaign with an impressive 3-0 victory over Peterborough United.

The Bedfordshire outfit have certainly been on an upward trajectory since Jones returned to the club last year, and you would not bet against the feel-good factor continuing under the Welshman.

Luton have only won two of their last 14 meetings with Birmingham, but that does include their last encounter back in February when a Dan Potts goal secured a 1-0 victory.

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The Blues' unbeaten start to the season came to an end on Wednesday night as two late goals for Bournemouth gave the Cherries a 2-0 win at St Andrew's.

It was the first time that Lee Bowyer's side had conceded in 2021-22, after clean sheets against Sheffield United and Stoke City in the Championship and Colchester United in the EFL Cup.

Birmingham made an opening day statement by beating the recently-relegated Blades 1-0 before a goalless draw with the Potters.

Scoring just once themselves in three league games is perhaps a slight worry, but after five consecutive seasons of finishing no higher than 17th, there is hope that former Blues midfielder Bowyer is steering the club in the right direction.

Team News

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Nathan Jones has lamented Luton's injury "nightmare", with seven first team players absent for the win over Barnsley in midweek.

Jordan Clark may return after having to miss out due to concussion protocols, while summer signing Reece Burke is nearing full fitness after a thigh strain.

Twenty-two-year-old Peter Kioso made his full Championship debut against Barnsley and earned high praise from Jones, so should keep his place in the back three. Manchester United loanee Tahith Chong returned to the Birmingham side in midweek after an injury and was the team's best attacking threat, so he will keep his place on Saturday.

Last season's top scorer Lukas Jutkiewicz is yet to get off the mark in 2021-22 but did have a goal ruled out for offside on Wednesday.

Scott Hogan and summer signing Chuks Aneke will be keen to take the striker's starting spot, but Lee Bowyer has said he is sticking with Jutkiewicz for now.

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Sluga; Kioso, Lockyer, Naismith; Bree, Lansbury, Mpanzu, Bell; Muskwe, Adebayo, Cornick

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Sarkic; Roberts, Dean, Pedersen; Colin, Gardner, Woods, Bela; Chong, Leko; Jutkiewicz

We say: Luton Town 0-0 Birmingham City

These are two evenly-matched sides, meaning we are struggling to pick a winner here. Both teams have well-drilled defences and have been prone to lacking attacking spark, so we think this one will end goalless.