Can Luton Town Pull Off a Premier League Miracle?

Luton 4-0 Brighton: Elijah Adebayo scores hat-trick

No sooner had Luton Town won the Championship play-off final when defeating Coventry City on penalties, the Hatters were being installed as red-hot favourites to be relegated from the Premier League.

Rob Edwards had steered the Bedfordshire outfit to promotion against the odds and a modest budget had the so-called experts predicting that Luton would struggle to collect points when the new campaign came around.

However, Town are making people sit up and take notice thanks to their recent performances. A 4-0 trouncing of Brighton made everyone sit up and take notice, with this result being followed by an incredible 4-4 draw at St James’ Park.



Luton came from behind twice against Newcastle before racing into a 4-2 lead although it was a precious point gained against the Magpies in the end. They are faring a good deal better than fellow promoted teams Burnley and Sheffield United despite having the shortest odds on the relegation market before a ball was kicked.

The odds comparison sites continue to think that the Hatters will return to the Championship come May, although Edwards’ side currently sit in seventeenth place in the Premier League and they are within touching distance of Crystal Palace, Brentford and Nottingham Forest.

While Luton have Everton’s ten-point deduction to thank for sitting just above the Toffees, a return of twenty points from twenty-two games played certainly gives them a fighting chance of remaining among the Premier League elite for more than twelve months.

Edwards has performed a minor miracle to create a competitive team in the most difficult league in the world, with Luton having regularly served it up to some of the leading sides in the division. They came within a whisker of beating Liverpool in November, with Tahith Chong scoring the opener before a late equaliser from Luis Diaz.

There was also a pulsating encounter against Arsenal which agonisingly saw the Gunners enjoy a 90th minute winner after Luton raced into a 3-2 lead, while the Hatters also broke the deadlock against Manchester City before losing.

Luton Town staying in the Premier League would be an incredible tale to rival some of the storylines found in Ted Lasso. However, unlike Richmond FC, this team have a manager who has enjoyed an upward trajectory in his career and has a group of players who believe they can stay in the division.

❄️ @EliSaint4 pic.twitter.com/hLRzG41Vcg

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) February 5, 2024

Edwards was previously in charge of Forest Green and was able to steer Rovers to a League Two title success. As a result of his achievements, it was Watford who approached the 41-year-old, with many raising an eyebrow over the former Wolves defender’s decision to join a club who have had a ‘hire and fire’ policy.

Lasting just eleven games at Vicarage Road saw Edwards considering his next move, although it was a matter of weeks before the former England Under-16 coach was hired by a Luton side who had seen Nathan Jones leave the club for Southampton after previously steering them into the play-off places.

The rest as they say, is history. And that’s exactly what Edwards intends to make at Kenilworth Road, with recent matches demonstrating that this team can favourably go head-to-head against some of the strongest teams in the division.

Luton had no right to get four points from clashes against Brighton and Newcastle, nor to score a combined eight goals against teams who qualified for Europe last term. Recent successes have even been gained without captain Tom Lockyer although the team spirit could not be stronger.

Chiedozie Ogbene arrived at the club on a free transfer from Rotherham last summer and tore Dan Burn to shreds in a recent clash on Tyneside, with former Walsall striker Elijah Adebayo having scored an amazing hat-trick against the Seagulls.

Luton now have consecutive home clashes against Sheffield United and Manchester United before a trip to Anfield. Would you still bet against them staying in the Premier League this season?