Clarets Mad - Clarets v Luton Town, English Premier League Match Preview.
Venue: Kenilworth Rd, Stadium 1, Maple Road, Luton LU4 8AW.
Kick-off – 19.30 – Tuesday 3rd October 2023.

If ever the term “six-pointer” applied to a game of Association Football this is the one. Winless Burnley travel to Bedfordshire on Tuesday night looking to kick-start their return to the English Premier League.

Following another disappointing Clarets defeat at Newcastle where a myopic referee undid an awful lot of good work by Vincent Kompany’s men, Luton Town sprung a surprise beating Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park to bag their first win of the season. There is an awful lot hanging on the result of this game for two of the promoted teams from the Championship last season.

The Hatters beat the Toffees on Saturday by causing mayhem in the Everton defence from corners and free kicks. Vincent Kompany will hopefully have spent two full days on the training ground since Saturday working on defending set pieces. He will certainly need to have done to quell the aerial threat Rob Edwards the Hatters’ boss constructs.

One’s to watch: The Clarets will have the recently suspended Lyle Foster back and available for selection, Zeki Amdouni will probably revert to the number ten role with Luca Koleosho, Mike Tresor, Aaron Ramsey and Annas Zaroury all coming into contention to face a Mad Hatters team looking to follow up with a second league win on the back of their impressive result at Goodison Park.

The home team had collected just one point from their opening five top-flight games up to Saturday but fought off a strong Everton fightback to take home all three points with their 2-1 win. Carlton Morris scored his third EPL goal of the season and “Captain Incredible” Tom Lockyer always poses a threat with his “in your face” aggressive attitude. Both players will need to be kept on tight reins by the Burnley rear-guard on Tuesday night.

Verdict: The physical threat the Hatters pose, and the belligerent brashness installed into the home team by the Luton boss will I fear undo the pure footballing ethos of Vincent Kompany’s young and inexperienced Clarets. I expect Luton to prevail with a 2-0 home win.

Footnote: The standard of refereeing in the EPL seems to worsen by the week. A ludicrous VAR/refereeing fiasco denied Liverpool a point at Tottenham and an unpunished foul gave Newcastle their opening goal on Saturday. Against a team that play with power and aggression I fear the prevailing shambolic match officiating will see Burnley return pointless from Kenilworth Road. (TEC.)

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