Luton Town are going to send the ball long from goal kicks to evade Newcastle’s press, which is going to force them to get into a transition based match with them. Newcastle are one of, if not the best transition team in the Premier League. The other problem is their style of play is going to play right into Newcastle’s hands. They have allowed 17.8 expected goals in nine matches. Additionally, when they have played teams inside the top nine, it’s gone really poorly. In their last nine matches, they have allowed 25.3 expected goals and 19 big scoring chances. Luton Town have played a lot of big boys recently, but the defensive performances recently have been incredibly poor.
The Luton Town defense has completely fallen off a cliff and Lockyer being off the pitch will be a big challenge.