'Phenomenal acquisition': What Sunderland can expect from Luton Town and in-form striker at Kenilworth Road

Sunderland are preparing for their Championship fixture at Luton – but what can they expect from The Hatters?
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Nathan Jones’ side were on a seven-match unbeaten run before they were thrashed 4-0 at Watford last weekend, a result which saw them drop to ninth in the table.

To find out more we caught up with Luton reporter and podcaster James Cunliffe on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast.

Luton Town players at Cardiff City. (Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)Luton Town players at Cardiff City. (Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
Luton Town players at Cardiff City. (Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)

How would you assess Luton’s start to the season?

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JC: “It was going great until Sunday and then the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion against a team we didn’t want them to fall off against.

“I think Luton were second in the form table in the Championship and were seven unbeaten. Watford had lost three out of four.

“Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, a sickness bug, red card, depleted team and the heaviest defeat of the season against our arch-rivals.

“Prior to that we had been on a great run, winning two on the spin against Norwich and QPR and were up in the promotion places.

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“Before the Watford game we were fifth and hadn’t lost to any of the top seven, and then Sunday happened.”

Who are their key players?

JC: “Carlton Morris has been a phenomenal acquisition and is Luton’s record signing, although they don’t give away the price of fees.

“Whatever his cost he’s been worth every penny because not only his seven goals, defenders can’t get him off the ball. His pace is good and he’s got a trick in him. When he’s not been scoring he’s been setting up Elijah Adebayo his strike partner.

“Adebayo was the top scorer last season but was injured at the end of last season so had a bit of a slow start, but he’s now scored three in three.

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“In midfield Jordan Clark has been a revelation this season. They signed him from Accrington Stanley a couple of seasons back and he was a winger but Jones told him one day he’d become a Championship central midfielder. His ability to get box to box is fantastic.”

What is their style of play like?

JC: “They are a lot more front-footed than when they first came into the Championship.

“When they first came into the Championship Nathan Jones wasn’t there as he’d gone to Stoke at that point and it was a hard, hard season.

“When he came back at the end of that campaign after the Covid break they had nine games to save their season. It was very pragmatic then.

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“The season after they evolved to play a bit more as they were able to do that.

“They are just a massively hard-working team, everyone grafts really hard and they press really high. The strikers won’t leave the defenders alone.

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“They can be direct at times, particularly now because they have Morris and Adebayo is a very tall player as well, but they can play through the middle as well.

“Really it’s about intensity and high press to try and force opposition players into mistakes.”

What’s your predicted line-up?

JC: “Horvath, Potts, Lockyer, Bree, Bell, Doughty, Lansbury, Clark, Campbell, Adebayo, Morris.”