Luton boss Rob Edwards makes ‘expectancy’ suggestion ahead of Everton clash
Luton Town manager Rob Edwards believes the pressure will be on Everton when the two sides face one another, as the “expectancy” to win will be on the Toffees.
Sean Dyche’s side have finally got their season up and running in recent weeks, with wins in the Premier League and Carabao Cup lifting the mood at Goodison, but the Blues are still looking for their first victory at home this season when they face the Hatters.
While the recent upturn in form has lifted the pressure on Dyche and his team, Edwards believes that when his side travel to Goodison Park on Saturday (30 September) the pressure will be on the hosts, even though Luton are still looking for their first win of the season.
As quoted by Luton Today (30 September) he said: “Certainly there’s going to be more pressure on them. The expectancy on them at Goodison Park, their fans will think, ‘Right, turn up today, this is three points for us on the back of a couple of wins, go on then lads,’ so I think that does put a little bit of pressure on to them.
“They’ll be expecting that fast start, so if we make sure we can deal with that and grow into the game then you never know if that can go into our favour or not. They’ve been performing well since the first game and now they’re getting a few rewards. They have in the last couple of games.
“We’ve got to be ready for their strengths, ready for that Goodison crowd. But, also, we’ve got to try to play our way, and play to our strengths and, there’s not loads of them, but try to play to their weaknesses.”
Pressure
The Goodison crowd have been waiting for a long time to see a win, with the last victory on Merseyside coming on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign to keep the Toffees in the Premier League and while the atmosphere that day was electric, few would have hoped they’d have to wait four months to do it again.
As Edwards has said, Everton haven’t played badly at all this season, whether home or away but against Brentford and Aston Villa they have finally clicked at both ends of the pitch and got the results their performances have deserved previously.
But should Dyche and his side have aspirations of competing for the mid-table positions rather than being dragged into the relegation battle, they have to change their fortunes at home and make Goodison Park a fortress, this afternoon’s game against Luton is the perfect opportunity for that.
The Hatters have struggled in the majority of their games so far this season and the Toffees have to take advantage of that and begin to put a gap between them and the bottom three. Anything less than three points will leave the Goodison crowd slightly frustrated.
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