|
Luton - home, Falmer Years:
Prem 23-24, season 13 . .
no league meetings in seasons between 2011 to 2023, 2024 onwards.
Prem previous encounters home & away: P2 W1 D0 L1 - see Clubs in Archive.
Albion V Luton PL/EFL record @ Amex: W = 1 D = 0 L = 0
manager: Rob Edwards (2022) P0 @ July '23 . Experience: Prem rookie who lost merely a handful of games in the C'ship.
Kenilworth Road - 10.3k . nickname: Hatters . shirt: white, orange.
Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 5 7 1 NL, 8 11 4 / 2 L2, 1 L1, 19 12 6 3 C, 18 P @ 20/5/24.
* * * rel - '24 P . promo - '23 C, '14 NL, '18 L2, '19 L1 . p-os - '22 C.
Albion v Hatters (H) from 17/18: - < - 4-1 - . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 0 . F4 A1
scorers: March Pedro Adingra Ferguson
memorable match: Season13 (H) - Town's Prem debut on opening day at the Amex.
note: for away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below.
Season14 (8th) onwards (H) - not Premier League.
Season13, 7th Premier League (H) Sat 12/8/23 - w 4-1 ~ March, Pedro, Adingra, Ferguson
During pre-season friendlies Luton played; Peterboro 3-1 (H), Ipswich 1-1 (A) & Sheff Wed 1-2 (A) by end of July. Next up was Wolves 0-0 (A) and twice Bochum 2-1 & 1-3 (A) in Germany prior to their Prem kickoff. It was now opening day of our 7th straight campaign in the Prem and guess what? Yeah - who knew? Albion were 6th last term, while Hatters joined the Prem for their very first time when finishing 3rd in the C'ship then winning the '23 p-o final on penalties. We'd last hosted them at Withdean during the noughties while playing as League One outfits. Their recent back-story is one of fall & rise thru lower leagues until hitting heights in the last two seasons. Thus it is an unusual, if somewhat unlikely scenario, although real enough. Late last century Town were playing at equivalent of Prem & Championship levels prior to relegation into L1, when Albion were also seriously struggling during the nineties. You might say they were a bit of a yo-yo club, given the string stretched right down into non-league over a decade ago. So we didn't get to entertain this resurgent Bedfordshire outfit anytime at the Amex until now. In the Aug transfer window Rob Sanchez was sold to Chelsea (25m) and Aaron Connolly went to Hull. Mac Allister had gone to Liverpool (35m) but James Milner came the other way. Also Mahmoud Dahoud (B Dortmund) & Joao Pedro (Watford 30m) joined us by end of June. Bart Verbruggen (gk) (Anderlecht 16m) & Igor Julio (Fiorentina 15m) came aboard in July. On the Friday before Saturday's mid Aug kickoff Moises Caicedo was offered a deal by Liverpool at an agreed Prem record price with BHA of 111m. Meanwhile the ex-level2 outfit had spent a lowly 10m+ in the window on 2 buys, with another 2 undisclosed, plus 3 frees and 2 on loan. Hatters boss Rob Edwards would experience his baptism of fire at elite level today. On paper beforehand it was a banker home win but from past experience we couldn't take anything for granted from football forecasts whatever the standard.
*** match report: in the event Albion ran out winners by three clear goals. But visitors put up a fight for majority of this low grade contest and stayed in the game until late on. March opened scoring with a header from Mitoma's high centre (36mins). And it stayed that way up to halftime and on thru majority of the match. Then Pedro went down in the box, got up and netted a soft pen (71mins). Ten minutes later Town pulled one back in front of their massed support who went wild with delight. Dunk had been adjudged to have handled when slip-sliding across a pass and Ref pointed to the spot (81mins). De Zerbi made two double changes and shortly afterwards the two goal cushion was restored. Sub Adringa was a nuisance on debut to harried defenders and as the ball dropped he smacked it inside the post (85min). Freguson completed the south-coast goal fest by touching home an accurate cross from Estupinan in stoppage time (95mins). Everybody went away happy, even travelling support of both clubs stuck fast in national rail chaos. Orange shirted visitors were getting a thrill from just seeing live elite action. There was plenty of improvement expected in coming weeks for each outfit but a gulf in experience & knowhow was already apparent. Seven years ago Man City had taught us an early lesson here on our Prem debut. It's a tough division and to be one of the twenty highest clubs next time around has to be earned in more than merely blood, toil, tears and sweat.
stats: ht 1-0, goals 36,71,85,95-81, poss 71%-29%, on target 12-3, off target 15-6, corners 6-7, fouls 11-12, yellows 2-2, subs 5-5, shape 4231-352
weather: cloudy . gate: 31,872 . MoM: Milner - top veteran with class
team: 23 Steele 6 Milner 29 van Hecke 5 Dunk 30 Estupinan 7 March 8 Dahoud 13 Gross 22 Mitoma 9 Pedro 18 Welbeck
subs: 11 Gilmour 74 (8), 24 Adingra 74 (7), 28 Ferguson 79 (18), 34 Veltman 79 (6), 10 Enciso 88 (9)
bench: 1 Verbruggen 3 Julio 17 Alzate 40 Buonanotte
squad: 26 Ayari 36 Moran 42 Offiah . injured: 2 Lamptey 4 Webster 14 Lallana 15 Moder
Prem P1 . W1 D0 L0 . F4 A1 . W0 D0 L0 . F0 A0 . Pt3 Po2 = 3.00pt/gm . W = 100% L = 0%
Hatters:
Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 38 . 06 08 24 . 52 85 -33 . 26 18 = 0.68 . 15.7 63.1
3qtr: 29 . 05 07 17 . 42 60 -18 . 22 17 = 0.75 . 17.2 58.6
hfwy: 19 . 04 03 12 . 23 37 -14 . 15 18 = 0.78 . 21.0 63.1
start: 10 . 01 02 07 . 09 20 -11 . 05 18 = 0.50 . 10.0 70.0 - R Edwards
EFL Cup: Exeter 1-0 (A) R3, Gillingham 3-2 (H) R2
FA Cup: Man City 2-6 (H) R5, Everton 1-2 (A) R4, Bolton 1-2 (A) 0-0 (H) R3
Oct: 18th in table, 1pt off 17th at Q1.
Dec: 18th, 1pt from 17th at Q2.
Mar: 17th, 3pts off 16th at Q3.
May: finished 18th, 5pts from 17th at Q4 - rel.
23/24 odds at start: rel 1-3, bottom 6-4, stay up 9-4 . sack RE 14/1 . expected to finish: 20th
run in from 30/3/24: Spurs 2-1 (A), Arsenal 2-0 (A), B'mouth 2-1 (H), Man City 5-1 (A),
Brentford 1-5 (H), Wolves 2-1 (A), Everton 1-1 (H), West Ham 3-1 (A), Fulham 2-4 (H)
run in *forecast @ 29/3/24: 22pt > *29pts . max was 49 . Actual = 26 . Po was 17th . Actual po = 18th
Seasons 7-12 (1st-6th) - not Prem.
Seasons 1-6 - not C'ship.
Luton away:
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L%
24/25 onwards - not Premier League
23/24 - 2 4 13 . 24 48 -24 . 10 18 = 0.52 38.4 . 10.5 68.4 - Rob Edwards
17/18 - 22/23 not Premier League.
Luton previous Prem:
Prem points: - < -, 26
recent managers: Nathan Jones (20-22), Graeme Jones (19-20)
Seasn . W D L . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L%
24/25 onwards - not Premier League
23/24 - 06 08 24 . 52 85 -33 . 26 18 = 0.68 . 15.7 43.1 - Rob Edwards @ 20/5/24
Tried hard, scored goals but conceded too many for a realistic chance to stay up.
17/18 - 22/23 not Premier League
Knockouts:
FA Cup - R5 . EFL Cup - R3
* * * * *
See Withdean Era (1999 to 2011) and Clubs scroll in Archive:
Seasons 5 03/4, 9 07/8 - League One, Season7 05/6 - Championship.
Season10 08/9 - League Trophy (H & A).
Withdean era: Albion V Hatters 2-0, 1-1, 3-1 . . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 0
0-0 EFL Trophy.
memorable match: Season9 (H) - work in progress aiming for a p-o spot.
see: Seasons 5, 7, 9, 10 for club & stadium info. Also Mark McGhee, Dean Wilkins & Micky Adams.
|
|
Luton - away, Falmer Years:
Prem 23-24, season 13 . . No previous visits from 2011.
Hatters v Albion (A) from 17/18: - < - 4-0 - . . . W = 0 D = 0 L = 1 . F0 A4
scorers: none
memorable match: Season13 (A) -
note: for home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further up.
Season14 (8th) onwards (A) - not Premier League
Season13, 7th Premier League (A) Tue 30/1/24 - L 4-0
Brighton fans were going to Kenilworth Road and what an experience to behold on a late Jan Tuesday nite after the FA Cup R4 weekend and that now long gone Prem mid-season break. Our previous darkest knockout visit back in the winter of '09 had ended in tears, although Albion support put on a collective brave face in trying circumstances (see scroll below and also Withdean Era tab). Apparently Town had to spend 12m to upgrade their old ground to current Prem spec minimum standards. Hopefully this would erase worrysome memories of being on the end of a few reversals up there during those noughties of trouble & strife. Ask Grandad if you doubt trends of above notes. And do recall Forest away only last term for a quick one-off reference. Incidentally Luton were fined for homophobic chanting for their first Prem game at the Amex back in August. At the moment Brighton were 7th, while Luton were 18th from 21 & 20 fixtures played respectively. In the Jan transfer window Albion signed young prospect Valentin Barco from S America. Hatters added one from Reading. On the FA Cup R4 weekend immediately beforehand Hatters won 1-2 at Everton, while we beat Sheff Utd 2-5 away. So all to play for tonight.
*** match report: goals went in at 1,3,42,56 minutes and all into Albion's net for no reply. There was not much fun for Brighton fans from word go. It was a shocking defeat for Seagulls who never got off the ground to take flight. De Zerbi took full responsibility at this abject loss, although there wasn't much more he could do really. Everything went wrong from the very start, so blue & white had a mountain to climb throughout. It just got worse and worse, being three down at the interval and forty-five minutes left to get back into the game. We lost the second half too 1-0. Credit must go to hosts, showing an incredible will to win and keep pedal to the metal. Anything said about Brighton's display would appear disappointing to say least. It certainly was a wake up call before bedtime.
stats: ht 3-0, goals 1,3,42,56, poss 41%-59%, on target 8-2, off target 10-7, corners 7-4, fouls 13-14, yellows 2-2, subs 5-5, shape 3421-3421
weather: dry & cold . gate: 10,994, away 1104 . MoM: ?
team: 23 Steele 29 van Hecke 5 Dunk 3 Julio 30 Estupinan 40 Buonanotte 11 Gilmour 13 Gross 6 Milner 18 Welbeck 9 Pedro
subs: 41 Hinshelwood 20 (6), 2 Lamptey 45 (30), 28 Ferguson 45 (40), 20 Baleba 61 (11), 15 Moder 71 (9)
bench: 1 Verbruggen 4 Webster 14 Lallana 47 Baker-Boaitey
squad: 8 Dahoud 22 Mitoma 24 Adingra . injured: 7 March 10 Enciso 31 Fati 34 Veltman
Prem P22 . W5 D5 L1 . F22 A14 . W3 D3 L5 . F16 A23 . Pt32 Po8 = 1.45pt/gm . W = 34.3% L = 27.2%
Seasons 7-12 (1st-6th) - not Prem.
Luton home:
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L%
24/25 onwards - not Premier League
23/24 - 4 04 11 . 28 37 -09 . 16 18 = 0.84 61.5 . 21.0 57.8 - Rob Edwards
17/18 - 22/23 not Premier League.
Seasons 1-6 - not C'ship.
* * * * *
Withdean era:
Seasons 5 03/4, 9 07/8 - League One, Season7 05/6 - Championship.
Season10 08/9 - League Trophy (H & A).
Withdean era: Hatters V Albion 2-0, 3-0, 1-2 . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 2
4pen3 1-1 aet EFL Trophy.
Noughties last there - 17/2/09 (A) JP Trophy area final.
A rather disappointing result from a rare but live chance to put BHA into EFL record books.
memorable match: Season9 (A) 12/4/08 (A) League One.
The only time from three irregular fixtures at Kenilworth Road this decade that we took back any points.
see: Seasons 5, 7, 9, 10 for club & stadium info. Also Mark McGhee, Dean Wilkins & Micky Adams.
|
