Nathan Jones begins his second spell as Luton Town boss with the Hatters sitting six points adrift of safety in the Championship standings.
Meanwhile, despite three successive defeats before football was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Preston North End make the trip to Kenilworth Road occupying the final playoff spot.
Match preview
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Despite heading into lockdown having recorded 11 points from their most recent six games, the Luton board opted to part company with Graeme Jones, allowing for a reunion with former Stoke City boss Jones.
Many things would have been considered when the decision was made, including the significant financial implications due to the coronavirus pandemic and a potential restructure which may be required in the coming months.
Nevertheless, Jones, whose return divided opinion given the manner of his previous exit to Stoke City, is motivated to rebuild his career at a time when Luton must quickly get more wins on the board.
While a trip to Leeds United is to come before the end of the month, the Welshman will feel that the club's upcoming games represent an opportunity to reduce the gap to three teams who sit six points ahead of them.
Although the enforced break came at the wrong time for Luton, who had been building momentum, the same cannot be said for Preston.
While they have managed to keep hold of a place in the playoffs, suffering four defeats in five games has left Alex Neil with much work to do in order to get his side back on track.
A period for reflection and extra time on the training pitch may benefit the North-West outfit at an important stage of the campaign as they look to fend off a chasing pack which features seven teams.
Nevertheless, losing at home to Queens Park Rangers in their last fixture highlighted that they had lost their way, and a positive response is required if they are to avoid being pulled back into the mid-table positions.
On the plus side, many of their remaining games are against teams who they will consider as rivals, and that could act as the catalyst for an improved run of form over the coming weeks.
Luton Town Championship form: WWLWDD
Preston North End Championship form: WLWLLL
Team News
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As a result of the change in management, it remains to be seen whether Nathan Jones will make alterations to the setup used by his predecessor.
However, he will definitely be without Brendan Galloway and Eunan O'Kane, who remain sidelined with a knee injury and a broken leg respectively.
Although Preston will not be able to call upon Louis Moult, another player who is recovering from a serious knee injury, Neil is able to welcome back two players into his squad.
Tom Bayliss and Billy Bodin have both been in training in recent weeks and are under consideration for a spot in the team.
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Sluga; Pearson, Carter-Vickers, Bradley, Cranie; Rea, Mpanzu, Tunnicliffe; Brown; Cornick, Collins
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Rudd; Fisher, Bauer, Davies, Hughes; Johnson, Pearson, Gallagher; Barkhuizen, Maguire, Sinclair
We say: Luton Town 1-1 Preston North End
Both sides will feel the need to push for all three points from this contest, aware that they are at risk of dropping away from their respective targets. Although Luton could make most of the running, we expect Preston to do enough to claim a share of the spoils.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Preston North End win with a probability of 39.43%. A win for Luton Town had a probability of 34.86% and a draw had a probability of 25.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Preston North End win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.57%) and 0-2 (6.56%). The likeliest Luton Town win was 1-0 (8.66%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.18%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood.
