Stiff Hatters test for Posh as they kick-off home campaign against free-spending Luton Town

For the second consecutive week, Posh have been chosen to play in front of the TV cameras against a side newly relegated from the Championship. Luton have actually suffered back-to-back relegations following successive promotions up to the Premier Division.

Saturday’s kick-off has once again been moved forward to 12:30pm.

PAST MATCHES

The last time Posh and Luton were in the same division they also faced each other very early in the season. Posh travelled to Kenilworth Road on the opening day of the 2021/22 Championship season and were comfortably beaten 3-0 to signal the start of what turned out to be a chastening season.

The last time these two sides met in League One was also a grim away day for Posh as they were beaten 4-0 by the Hatters in January 2019 and Ryan Tafazolli was shown a first half red card.

Posh have not fared much better at home having won just two of their 11 league home league meetings with Luton, drawing six and losing three. It finished 1-1 in the last London Road meeting at the back end of the 20-21 season which ended with Luton winning promotion and Posh suffering relegation. Jonson Clarke-Harris equalised a Danny Hylton goal late on in that game.

Posh team (2021): Pym, Butler, Kent, Beevers, Thompson, Tomlinson, Grant, Knight, Ward, Szmodics, Clarke-Harris. Subs used: Edwards, Hamilton, Randall.

Posh team (2019): Chapman, Lafferty, Tafazolli, White, Naismith, Dembele, Dempsey, Maddison, Cooke, Tomlin, Toney. Subs used: Woodyard, Ward, Cooper.

BIG MATCH ODDS

Posh are 23-10 to claim their first win of the season with Sky Bet. The visitors are odds on at 10-11 with the draw at 12-5. Luton are the current favourites to win the League One title at 11-4.

REFEREE

Scott Oldham is the man with the whistle for Posh vs Luton. Posh have a good recent record Oldham in charge. He took charge of last season’s 3-2 Vertu Trophy win over Cheltenham Town as well as the 1-1 draw with Wycombe in March in which he awarded Posh one penalty, but should have done so a second time following a blatant foul on Cian Hayes.

Posh have plenty of fond memories with Oldham in charge, he refereed the 2024 Bristol Street Trophy FInal victory over Wycombe, the 5-0 victory over Cambridge that same season as well the a 1-0 win over Cambridge during the 2022/23 campaign as well as the 5-2 win over League One leaders Plymouth that February as well the final day victory at Barnsley that took Posh into the play-offs.

OPPOSITION

Luton stuck with Matt Bloomfield this summer despite his failure to turn the club’s fortunes around after the sacking of Rob Edwards while they were in the Championship.

They have strengthened their squad by making a number of high profile additions including strikers Jerry Yates from Swansea and Nakhi Wells from Bristol City. Yates cost a reported £1 million fee.

Midfielder George Saville has arrived on a free from Millwall as did centre-back Kal Naismith from Portsmouth. ‘The Hatters’ have also secured the loan signing of Virgil van Dijk lookalike and defender Nigel Lonwijk on loan from Wolves.

Their summer business has largely been financed by the sale of Thelo Aasgaard to Rangers for £3.5m.

Bloomfield had an unfancied Wycombe side well in the League One automatic promotion race against giants Birmingham and Wrexham last season before he chose to leave and take the Luton job so has a good track record, and perhaps some unfinished business, in the division.

Wycombe have long been a troublesome opponent for Posh with Bloomfield's side scoring 5-2 and 3-1 league victories over Posh in the last two seasons, as well as a 2-2 but at Wembley in 2024, Posh came out on top.

Luton kicked off the whole EFL season last Friday night (August 1) when they hosted AFC Wimbledon, a match unlikely to be rivalled as a poor spectacle all season.

Luton largely resorted to long balls to little effect until a stroke of luck in the 85th minute when Ryan Johnson flicked a long ball over his own goalkeeper and into the net.