Leeds United vs Luton Town - Preview

Edwards: May return

Team News
Luton - Luton have a few injury problems for tomorrow's match with Leeds United. Richard Jackson in particular is a doubt after being substituted in the first half of the Sunderland match last week with an injury. If he is unable to play, then Keith Keane is likely to start at right-back instead. Paul Peschosolido and Sam Parkin are also likely to miss out as well through injury, as well as Richard Langley obviously. There may also be renewed competition for places after the midweek cup win over Sunderland. Steve Robinson and Dean Morgan came in for that match instead of David Edwards and Darren Currie, so Blackwell may well wish to keep those two players in instead of Currie and Edwards. New Polish loan signing Jaroslaw Fojut may also compete for a place against Chris Perry and Chris Coyne at centre-back.

With Blackwell, you are never really sure which team he is going to put out. He said that he still isn't sure of his best team, so he may well rotate players again. Dean Brill is apparently back in contention for a place after an injury, so he will be competing with David Forde for a place in goal. The only thing relatively sure about the defence is that Alan Goodall will play at left-back, assuming he doesn't pick up a late injury. Chris Coyne is also likely to start at centre-back, and it will probably be Chris Perry who will compete with Fojut for the other place. Right-back will depend on Jackson's fitness, but Keane should be expected to play there. In midfield, Blackwell will surely start David Bell and Matthew Spring at least, as Bell in particular has impressed so far this season. Currie and Edwards should retain their places in midfield, despite Tuesday's performance, as Robinson hasn't really done enough to warrant another start, and Morgan certainly hasn't. Blackwell should play Talbot and Furlong up front again.

Expected Team: Forde (GK), Goodall (DL), Keane (DR), Coyne (DC), Perry (DC), Currie (ML), Bell (MR), Edwards (MC), Spring (MC), Talbot (SC), Furlong (SC)

Leeds
Leeds have also got some injury problems tomorrow. Dennis Wise probably won't be able to pick a number of players, as they have numerous injuries. Four of their players have ankle problems, Tore Andre Flo, Ian Westlake, Leon Constantine and Curtis Weston are all ruled out with ankle injuries, and Shaun Derry and Gyfil Einarsson are ruled out as well. However, Wise welcomes back Alan Thompson and Andy Hughes to the squad, and both may feature in tomorrow's match. New signing Alan Martin may also be chosen.

Although Leeds have started the season with four wins out of five matches, and three wins out of three in the league, their 15-point deduction means that they are currently bottom with -6 points, six points behind Gillingham. They are also the top scorers in League One so far this season, just ahead of Luton.

Connections
There are a number of players who have played football for both Leeds

Blackwell: Former Leeds manager.

United and Luton Town in recent years. The most notable connections, however, may well be the current Luton backroom staff. Kevin Blackwell, Sam Ellis and John Carver were all at Leeds before they came to Luton. They helped take Leeds to the Championship play-off final in 2005-06, before they were beaten at the Millenium Stadium by Watford. Blackwell and his staff were sacked the season after because of a bad start to the season, and current manager Dennis Wise was brought in instead. There are also a number of players who have played for both teams, some heroes and some not so heroic in the eyes of Luton fans. Current Luton midfielder Matthew Spring had a spell with Leeds, joining them from Luton in 2004. Spring then moved on to Watford the season after before returning to Luton this year. Spring's former midfield partner Kevin Nicholls also played for Leeds last season. The former Wigan and Charlton man, now at Preston, had a very bad time at Leeds after leaving Luton a hero, and he was forced out at the end of the season. Useless Luton strikers also seem to have Leeds connections as well. Warren Feeney started his career at Leeds before moving to Bournemouth, Stockport and then Luton, where he failed to make any sort of impact at all. Chris Kamara also played for both clubs, and currently at Leeds is Tresor Kandol; the man Kinnear released for being lazy and useless has somehow made his way back up the divisions and is now at Leeds. Last seasons loan player Clarke Carlisle also played at Leeds before moving to Watford, and is now at Burnley.

Past Meetings - Luton have played Leeds 23 times at Leeds in history.

Feeney: Celebrating a rare goal with former Leeds player Nicholls

Luton's record at Leeds isn't particularly good either, with 5 wins compared to Leeds' 13 wins, although it is better than Leeds' record at Kenilworth Road. The last win at Elland Road for Luton was actually in the League Cup in 1988, the season we lost in the final to Nottingham Forest. Danny Wilson and David Oldfield scored for Luton at Elland Road in a 2-0 win that year. The last league win for Luton at Leeds was in 1961, when Luton picked up a 2-1 win. The last meeting between the two sides at Elland Road was last season in the Championship, when Luton lost 1-0 to a Richard Cresswell goal, and Dean Morgan missed a penalty. However, looking at that team, five of the starting eleven have now left the club, and only about four of them are likely to be in contention for a starting place tomorrow. Luton fans may have happier memories of the Kenilworth Road match that season, when Luton beat Leeds 5-1. After that match, it all went downhill from there of course. Overall, Leeds have the edge over Luton in head to head matches, with 16 wins out of 44 compared with Luton's 14. However, Luton have scored 61 times against Leeds, and Leeds have scored 60, so the records are quite even.

Prediction
Both Luton and Leeds have had good starts to the season in many respects, so the match should at least be a lot different from last season's match between two struggling teams. I'll say a 2-2 draw here, as both teams have started to score goals this season. I'm not exactly confident it will be a draw though.