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Luton Town have been hit with the hard truth following their surprise defeat to an out of form Blackburn Rovers.
The Championship relegation scrap took several turns this weekend as Plymouth Argyle beat Sheffield United, whilst Luton Town lost 1-0 to Blackburn Rovers.
The Hatters found themselves in a decent run of form, with Matt Bloomfield conducting two wins and three draws in their previous five, which helped preview the clash with Blackburn Rovers as a likely victory, coming up against a side with no wins in eight Championship clashes.
Following the surprise turn of events over the weekend that saw Luton Town defeated, one EFL expert has had their say on the game, as well as where it leaves Bloomfield’s side in the relegation picture.
EFL experts give Luton Town vs Blackburn Rovers verdict and how it shapes the relegation picture
Luton Town will be left wondering just how they lost out against such a poor Blackburn Rovers side at a time when a win could have lifted the Hatters to 22nd, and joined with Derby County on points.
The verdict given by EFL expert Justin Peach, via the Second Tier Podcast on YouTube, was that the defeat will be ‘hugely damaging’ to the rest of their campaign.
“I think, from a Luton perspective, it is hugely damaging because this was a very winnable game,” said Peach. “Blackburn have been absolutely awful, haven’t they, under Ismail, and I think, if you sit back and allow Blackburn to play a little bit and hit them on the counter, it’s a good blueprint to get three points and one that a lot of teams have found fairly easy in recent weeks. So, for Luton to lose the way they did was quite poor.”
Fellow Second Tier Podcast host Ryan Dilks then continued: “It leaves Luton three points from safety and again, a much poorer goal difference than the teams outside the bottom three, so they actually are more like four points from safety.
“Plymouth are level on points with them again, which isn’t exactly helping things, but perhaps more significantly, Luton have obviously been on this unbeaten run and just looked like they were building up some momentum Justin, so losing to a team bang out of form like Blackburn was is a big blow, and you wonder what effect it might have on their momentum going forwards.”
Luton Town face make-or-break clash this weekend
It is safe to say that this weekend will significantly dictate Luton Town’s feat for the 2024/25 Championship campaign, and whether they will suffer a double relegation or not; the side that awaits the Hatters is fellow struggling side Derby County.
John Eustace’s side have seen an upturn in form in recent times, but they will still be looking cautiously and nervously over their shoulders as the likes of Plymouth Argyle pick up momentum.
Beating Derby County is a must for Luton Town this weekend, otherwise the gap between themselves and survival could become insurmountable; a win will be needed to create any sort of momentum for themselves ahead of their difficult final few games.