MATCH PREVIEW: LUTON TOWN V BURNLEY

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Clarets head to Kenilworth Road for Championship opener

2024-08-11T07:00:00.000Z

MATCH PREVIEW: LUTON TOWN V BURNLEY

Clarets head to Kenilworth Road for Championship opener

2024-08-11T07:00:00.000Z

Clarets head to Kenilworth Road for Championship opener

Burnley kick off their 2024/25 Sky Bet Championship campaign on Monday night with a trip to Luton Town.

The Clarets are unbeaten at Kenilworth Road in their previous four visits and haven’t lost against the Hatters in the last eight meetings between the two sides.

The game will be Head Coach Scott Parker’s first competitive game in charge of Burnley after taking charge in July.

Parker’s side will be backed by a sell-out crowd in Bedfordshire, as the Clarets kickstart their new season.

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How to watch

Tickets for the fixture against Town are sold out and unavailable to purchase.

Viewers in the UK can watch the game via Sky Sports Main Event or Sky Sports Football and the rest of the world on official EFL rightsholders.

Live audio commentary will be available as usual via Clarets+ from 7:45pm on the night.

Full match highlights, goals and interviews will be available to view after the match on Clarets+ and across all social media channels.

Click here to view all our Clarets+ packages.

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The opposition

Luton have had an impressive rise over the last 10 years, after reaching the Premier League two seasons ago, with the Hatters playing in the Conference Premier League in 2014.

After promotion to League Two in 2014, it took the Hatters just four years to then secure promotion into League one, where an instant promotion saw Luton reach the Championship at the first time of asking after finishing 1st in the 2018/19 campaign.

Following three years in the Championship, Town then sealed a 3rd place finish in the 2022/23 campaign under Rob Edwards and were promoted to the Premier League at Wembley via the playoffs with a penalty shootout victory against Coventry City.

After being relegated last season from the top-flight alongside the Clarets, the Hatters have added a couple of summer additions to their squad for the upcoming campaign.

Midfielder Shandon Baptiste arrived on a free transfer from Brentford and young full-back Reuell Walters from Arsenal whilst departures have seen Ross Barkley re-join Aston Villa, Gabriel Osho sign for AJ Auxerre, Ryan Giles join Hull City and Sambi Lokonga return to Arsenal following his loan spell.

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In the dug out

Luton boss Rob Edwards enjoyed an impressive playing career with the majority of his football played in the Championship with the likes of Wolves, Blackpool, Derby County and Barnsley as well as representing Wales 15 times, before retiring in 2013 following a long-term injury.

Edwards began his coaching career with Wolves; after taking charge of the U18s side in the 2014/15 campaign and following a successful first year at Molineux, the Welshman was promoted to a first team coach in the summer of 2015.

Following a brief period as interim Head Coach at Wolves, Edwards departed the Midlands side in 2017 to become manager of his hometown club, AFC Telford.

After spending only a season with the Bucks, he returned to Wolves as U23s boss and spent just over a year there before being appointed as a coach with England’s U16 squad.

May 2021 saw Edwards depart his role at St George’s Park and join Forest Green Rovers as Head Coach, where he picked up EFL League Two Manager of the Month in three of his first six months at the club.

He eventually guided Forest Green to promotion to League One in his first season in charge which led to a move to Watford in the summer of 2022.

Edwards was sacked from his role at Vicarage Road after just 10 games in charge before joining Luton in November that year.

The former Wales international achieved promotion to the Premier League with the Hatters in his first year at Kenilworth Road via the playoffs at Wembley, before his side were relegated last season.

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Last time we met

15/01/2024 – Burnley 1 – 1 Luton Town (Turf Moor)

Burnley: Trafford, Vitinho, O’Shea, Ekdal, Al-Dakhil (Cork 90+4) Cullen, Brownhill, Gudmundsson (Roberts 74), Odobert (Bruun Larsen 84), Amdouni (Tresor 84), Foster

Unused substitutes: Muric, Egan-Riley, Zaroury, Benson, Rodriguez

Luton Town: Kaminski, Osho, Ogbene, Mengi, Bell, Doughty, Clark (Morris 75), Lokonga (Berry 87), Adebayo, Barkley, Townsend (Chong 64)

Unused substitutes: Krul, Potts, Berry, Burke, Woodrow, Ruddock-Mpanzu, Giles

Goals: Amdouni 36’, Morris 90+2’

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What Scott Parker said

“It’s definitely an exciting one. It’s two teams coming out of the Premier League so it’s a big challenge there, but for both sides I’m sure.

"Rob (Edwards) and the guys there I’m sure will be feeling the same. It’s a game we’re looking forward to.”

Parker added: “Rob has done an incredible job. We saw this first hand last year, it’s a difficult place to go. Top teams went there and had a real fight.

“The way they play, they’re aggressive, it’s a tight stadium, they cause you problems and if ever there was a game to start the season where you have to be right up for a battle, this is it.

“Rob has done a great job there. He gave them a real fighting chance last year and our team will be under no illusions to what they face.

“While saying that, we also have big quality and hopefully we can hurt them as well.”