Match Preview
Fulham vrs Luton Town
Championship Match Day 45 2122 at Craven Cottage
Monday 2nd May KO: 17:15
Referee:
Tim Robinson (West Sussex)
Live on Sky
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Promoted Fulham will be looking to win the Championship title when they welcome playoff-hopefuls Luton Town to Craven Cottage on Monday evening for a huge match in the second tier of English football.
The home side are currently five points clear of second-placed Bournemouth with two games left, while Luton sit fifth in the table, two points ahead of seventh-placed Middlesbrough.
Fulham have still not been confirmed as Championship winners, with the Cottagers managing to triumph in just one of their last five league matches, losing three times in the process, and Bournemouth's win at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday has kept the race alive, for the moment.
Marco Silva's team would be confirmed as winners with a victory over Luton, though, and it would be staggering if they passed up on first from this position, especially as they have been the outstanding team at this level for almost all of the campaign.
Fulham picked up a point at Bournemouth on April 23 before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest last time out but securing promotion back to the Premier League was always the priority this term, and they will once again operate at the top level next term.
Silva's side have the best home record in the Championship this term, picking up 43 points from their 22 matches, but they will be welcoming a Luton outfit with the fifth-best away record, and it would be fair to say that the visitors have plenty to fight for in this match.
Fulham have been held to draws in their last two league games against Luton, but they are unbeaten against Monday's opponents since October 1998 and will be desperate to secure the title with a game to spare, particularly as their final match of the campaign is away to Sheffield United.
Luton will not be in the mood to hand out any favours, though, as Nathan Jones's side know that a win on Monday evening would secure their spot in the Championship playoffs.
As it stands, the Hatters, who finished 12th in the Championship last term, are fifth in the table, two points ahead of seventh-placed Middlesbrough, who have played a game more.
A victory on Monday would move Luton onto 75 points; they cannot catch either fourth-placed Huddersfield Town or third-placed Nottingham Forest but are level on points with sixth-placed Sheffield United, who only have one match of the regular season left.
The visitors have picked up seven points from their last three Championship matches, beating Forest and Cardiff City in back-to-back fixtures before playing out a 1-1 draw with Blackpool on April 23.
Luton were a Conference team as recent as 2014, so it would be some achievement if they managed to secure a spot in the Premier League for the first time in their history, but there is a lot of football to be played before then.
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Fulham are unbeaten in their last four league games against Luton (W2 D2) since a 3-1 defeat back in October 1998.
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Fulham have lost three of their last five league games (W1 D1), as many as they’d lost in their previous 28 combined (W19 D6 L3).
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Aleksandar Mitrovic needs just two goals to beat Guy Whittingham’s second-tier record of 42 goals in a single campaign.
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Luton have won nine away league games this season, the joint-highest total in their second tier history alongside 2020-21, 1981-82, 1972-73 and 1938-39.
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Elijah Adebayo has been directly involved in 20 goals in 40 Championship appearances for Luton this season (16 goals, 4 assists), although only four of his league goals this term have come away from home.
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