Preview: Luton Town vs Burton Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to make it back-to-back victories after climbing out of the bottom four of the League One table in midweek, Burton Albion will head to Kenilworth Road to take on Luton Town on Saturday.

The visitors lead the drop zone by a single point, while their hosts trail the playoff places by four points after back-to-back losses.

Match preview

Luton Town head into the weekend aiming to reignite their League One playoff bid with a return to winning ways after a pair of setbacks.

In a bid to make an immediate return to the Championship after consecutive relegations, the Hatters have endured a somewhat underwhelming campaign thus far, having failed to kick on since the October appointment of Jack Wilshere.

From 21 league games under the new boss, they have managed 29 points courtesy of eight victories alongside as many defeats, with the most recent of those wins coming consecutively at home to Blackpool and Bradford City in late January and early February respectively.

The Hatters have failed to kick on and narrow their gap to the top six since, though, firstly falling to a 3-1 loss away at leaders Cardiff City, before visiting Wigan Athletic in midweek and again leaving empty-handed as Joe Taylor scored the only goal for their hosts 17 minutes from time.

Still sitting four points outside of the top six with a game in hand on sixth-placed Huddersfield Town, Luton Town do have the chance to quickly put themselves back within touching distance if they can bounce back at the weekend.

They meet a visiting side in search of three important points of their own in their fight at the bottom end of the table, albeit only sitting 10 points worse off than the hosts.

The 2025-26 season has been about League One survival for Burton Albion, who have managed 35 points from their 31 outings thus far, winning nine and losing 14 of those.

A miserable late 2025 and January run saw the Brewers sink into the relegation zone, as they managed just one victory and five points from a nine-match span in England's third tier, before bowing out of the FA Cup in an eventual extra-time loss to West Ham United last weekend.

Encouraged by that effort, Gary Bowyer's men returned to league action on Tuesday at home to fellow strugglers Rotherham United and ended a six-match winless run with a crucial 1-0 triumph as Tyrese Shade's first-half goal made the difference.

Now sitting outside of the drop zone thanks to that win, albeit only leading the bottom four by a single point, Burton Albion will now hope to turn that win into the start of a climb away from the threat of the drop in the coming weeks.

Luton Town League One form:

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Burton Albion League One form:

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Burton Albion form (all competitions):

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Team News

Luton Town continue to contend with extensive injury issues, as Hakeem Odoffin, Sverre Sandal, Cohen Bramall, Liam Walsh, Shandon Baptiste and Elijah Adebayo are all confined to the treatment room.

Shayden Morris, Nahki Wells and Gideon Kodua will all compete to come in from the start, after Ali Al Hamadi and Devante Cole led the line in midweek with Isaiah Jones and Jake Richards on the wings.

January arrival Kasey Palmer will again join mainstay Jordan Clark in the engine room, while Mads Andersen and Teden Mengi will continue their centre-back partnership.

Burton Albion face injury problems of their own, with key man Charlie Webster still sidelined alongside James Jones, Finn Delap, Sebastian Revan and Dylan Williams.

They may be unchanged from Tuesday's crucial win over Rotherham, with Shade keeping his spot up front after netting his sixth goal of the season in that game.

He will join Jake Beesley, who has managed 12 in England's third tier, while Andy Cannon will hope to displace either Julian Larsson, George Evans or Kgaogelo Chauke and earn a spot in midfield.

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Keeley; Lonwijk, Mengi, Andersen, Naismith; Richards, Palmer, Clark, Kodua; Cole, Wells

Burton Albion possible starting lineup:

Collins; Godwin-Malife, Vancooten, Hartridge; Lofthouse, Evans, Chauke, Sibbick; Larsson; Beesley, Shade

We say: Luton Town 2-1 Burton Albion

Luton Town have often failed to make their quality count this season, but we still give them the edge to get through a tough home test against a buoyant Burton Albion side.

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