A thrilling encounter could be on the cards when Luton Town welcome Bolton Wanderers to Kenilworth Road for an FA Cup third round clash. Bolton can cause Luton plenty of problems but the Premier League side should have too much quality for their League One visitors and are expected to have the edge at home.
Luton Town are coming off a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea in a Premier League fixture last weekend. They fell just short of completing a late comeback after going three goals down, failing to get the equaliser following efforts from Ross Barkley and Elijah Adebayo.
Although Luton Town came away from that clash empty-handed, manager Rob Edwards will find the performance encouraging, particularly in the final minutes. The Hatters will be looking to channel that display, although the result means they have kept just one clean sheet across all competitions this season.
Prior to the defeat to Chelsea, Luton Town had actually picked up two straight wins, including a 3-2 victory over Sheffield United. They have also picked up a few vital scalps at home with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace and a 1-0 win over Newcastle United among their recent results at Kenilworth Road.
While Luton Town will be making their first appearance in this year’s FA Cup, Bolton Wanderers have come through the two previous rounds. They claimed a 4-0 win over Solihull Moors before easing to a 5-1 victory over Harrogate Town in the last time out.
Both results are telling of Bolton Wanderers’ form this season as they are gunning for promotion in League One. Ian Evatt’s have won their last four matches and travel to Kenilworth Road off the back of a 1-0 victory over Burton Albion in a New Year’s Day League One fixture.
Bolton Wanderers also have a solid record on their travels with just one defeat in their last nine away matches across all competitions. They have picked up seven wins in that run.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Luton Town as overwhelming favourites with a home win priced at 4/6 by Coral. A victory for Bolton Wanderers is valued at 19/4 by Unibet while a draw is set at odds of 3/1 by Paddy Power.
Head to head
Bolton Wanderers have a 5-2 advantage with six draws from 14 previous matches against Luton Town. However, the last meeting between both sides was a Championship fixture in 1995 which ended in a 0-0 draw.
Players to watch
Elijah Adebayo continues to impress for Luton Town and has found the net three times in his last five matches. The striker could be worth keeping an eye on and is priced at 7/4 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Bolton Wanderers also have attacking quality of their own, particularly Dion Charles, who has 14 League one goals this season. The forward will be the one to watch for the visitors and is priced at 10/3 by bet365 to find the net on Sunday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Luton Town and Bolton Wanderers have attacking quality and both teams could be backed to score at 19/20 with bet36S. The hosts have seen over 3.5 goals in their last two matches and could be set for a repeat at 12/5 with William Hill while Paddy Power is offering odds of 10/11 for over 2.5 goals.
With Luton priced at minimal odds for a straight victory, a win and over 2.5 goals could be considered at 13/8 with Coral.
This FA Cup match between Luton Town and Bolton Wanderers will be played on Jan 7, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Luton Town vs Bolton Wanderers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
