It's not going to get any easier for Peterborough United as in-form Luton Town are next up in League One, but the Supercomputer has turned positive!
Luton Town have hit form in time to play a Peterborough United side who continue to struggle in League One.
The Hatters beat Doncaster Rovers 3-1 at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday to make it three home wins in eight days. They also saw off Barnsley and Leicester City to jump up to eighth in League One, just a point from the final play-off place and five points off top spot in a congested table.
Luton have picked up just six of their 20 points away from home though. They won 4-3 at Reading on the opening day of the season and 4-1 at Wycombe earlier this month. A 2-1 loss at MK Dons in their last away outing is the only blemish in the last five games from the joint second highest scorers in the division.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Veteran striker Nahki Wells has enjoyed a strong League One season so far. He’s netted seven goals despite starting just nine games. ‘The Hatters’ were thrilled to sign attacking midfielder Kasey Palmer on a permanent basis after he impressed on loan at the club from Hull City last season.
Luton reportedly spent £1.5 million on West Ham United striker Callum Marshall in the summer and after a slow start with his new club he’s scored in each of the last two matches to make it four for the campaign.
PAST MATCHES
Luton eased to a 2-0 win in the fixture last season with late goals from Mads Anderson and Jordan Clark. Posh have only beaten Luton at home in Football League games in two of 12 clashes, most recently in August, 2018 under the management of Steve Evans when goals from Jason Cummings (2) and Siriki Dembele secured a 3-1 win.
The other success arrived way back in the 1964-65 Division Three season as goals from Derek Dougan and Peter McNamee sealed a 2-0 success.
REF WATCH
Lewis Sandoe is the man in the middle for Saturday’s game at the Weston Homes Stadium. He took charge of the dismal 0-0 home draw with Mansfield Town which secured safety for Posh in the penultimate League One game of last season. Sandoe has issued a modest 26 yellow cards and two red cards in 11 outings this season.
BIG MATCH ODDS
Luton are odds on favourites (17-20) to win at Posh on Saturday with Sky Bet. Posh are 21-10 with the draw at 11-4.
SUPERCOMPUTER
The PT’s go-to supercomputer Betsie, the brainchild of the good folk at Betarades, has predicted a surprising finishing position for a Posh team written off as relegation certainties in some quarters.
The model simulated the league season 100,000 times, accounting for all match results from pre-season and the previous campaign. It projects outcomes based on pre-season expectations, fixture difficulty, and underlying performance metrics such as xG for and against.
Here are its latest finishing predictions: 1 Leicester, 2 Huddersfield, 3 Luton, 4 Oxford, 5 Stockport, 6 Bradford, 7 Sheff Wed, 8 Plymouth, 9 Reading, 10 MK Dons, 11 Wycombe, 12 Mansfield, 13 Cambridge, 14 Orient, 15 Stevenage, 16 Blackpool, 17 Notts County, 18 Burton, 19 Doncaster, 20 POSH, 21 Wigan, 22 Wimbledon, 23 Barnsley, 24 Bromley.
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