Chris Sutton predicts result of Luton Town v Everton Premier League clash
Chris Sutton has made his prediction ahead of the Premier League clash between Luton Town and Everton at Kenilworth Road on Friday 3 May.
The Toffees secured their Premier League status for another year with a 2-0 win over Brentford last time out, while Luton currently sit just one point adrift of safety with three games remaining having lost their last three games.
And when making his weekly picks for BBC Sport (2 May), pundit Sutton admitted that while Sean Dyche’s side could take their foot off the gas now that safety is guaranteed, Luton are “too easy” to play against and opted for a 2-1 away win.
“If not for their points deductions, Everton would have been a mid-table team for most of the campaign and would not have been worried about the drop,” he said.
“Luton, meanwhile, are still in the thick of the relegation scrap and you could argue this is a decent opportunity for them, given Everton have just made sure of staying up and might take their foot off the gas a bit.
“Looking at their remaining games, Luton have got to play West Ham (away) and Fulham (home) as well this one.
“They are three fixtures where you feel they have a chance of picking up some points but, having said that, they are too easy to play against, concede too many goals and might also be low on confidence after losing their past three matches.
“We don’t know how many points Luton will need to stay up, not helped by the uncertainty over Nottingham Forest’s appeal against their points deduction, but they are going to need at least one win.
“Luton won at Goodison Park earlier in the season, but I don’t see them repeating that result here. The pressure is all on them now, while we should see Everton play with a bit of freedom. Luton 1-2 Everton.”
Everton playing with no pressure for once
There is an argument to be had that the current team representing Goodison Park prefer to play when the stakes are high, as they have reserved their best performances for when it really matters.
Three wins in a week against Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford without conceding a goal is an incredible turn of form considering they had won just one of 15 games prior to that.
There are also a few injury concerns for Dyche to contend with, with Vitalii Mykolenko ruled out for the rest of the season among others, but they will want to end the season as high up as possible.
Luton know they must win, and this is arguably their best chance of victory in the final three games as they have already beaten Everton twice this season but that pressure can affect players differently.
There’s no pressure on the Toffees players for once and that could see a more improved performance, which you would expect to see result in three points again.
In other Everton news, one source says the club could have walked away from Bramley-Moore dock and stayed at Goodison amid financial problems.
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