Sheffield Wednesday and Luton Town square off at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon having both suffered defeats in the Championship in midweek.

While the Owls remain in bottom place due to their points deduction at the beginning of the campaign, the Hatters occupy 12th position in the table.

Match preview

Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk pictured in January 2020 © Reuters

With his side having begun the campaign with -12 points, Sheffield Wednesday boss Garry Monk will naturally be desperate to get back into positive digits as soon as possible.

However, even after suffering to Brentford on Wednesday evening, the Yorkshire giants can be pleased with their form, recording eight points from half-a-dozen games.

Sheffield Wednesday's setbacks have been against two of the top seven, something which Monk will keep in mind when preparing his players for the visit of Luton.

Although their backline has been in fine form, much work is required in the final third with just three goals being scored during their six most recent matches.

Not one player has netted more than once in the Championship, although Monk would have been pleased to see Callum Paterson get off the mark for his new club earlier this week.

As far as Luton are concerned, Nathan Jones faces his first real test of the campaign after witnessing his side suffer back-to-back defeats since the international break.

In the two matches against Stoke City and Millwall, the games turned through conceding goals either directly before or after half time, subsequently leaving Luton on the back foot.

The Hatters have now failed to score in four of their last five outings in all competitions, with their only strikes coming in the second half of their meeting with out-of-form Wycombe Wanderers.

Sitting in mid-table, Jones and the club's supporters will have few complaints with their current position, but they need to get back on track before being dragged closer to familiar territory.

Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: WDLDWL
Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions): DLLDWL

Luton Town Championship form: WWLWLL
Luton Town form (all competitions): WLLWLL

Team News

Luton manager Nathan Jones pictured on June 27, 2020 © Reuters

Jones could hand a first start to Joe Morrell, whom Luton recently signed from Bristol City.

With James Collins still out through a positive coronavirus test, Jones may consider further changes to his goal-shy attack.

Danny Hylton's place in the team is at risk, with Kazenga LuaLua potentially in line to get an opportunity down the middle.

Monk may opt to hand a start to midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, who was introduced as a substitute early in the second half against Brentford.

Jordan Rhodes is also pushing for a recall in attack, possibly at the expense of recent arrival Jack Marriott.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Odubajo, Flint, Aken; Harris, Pelupessy, Bannan, Dele-Bashiru, Reach; Paterson, Rhodes

Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Sluga; Cranie, Pearson, Bradley, Norrington-Davies; Rea, Morrell, Mpanzu; Clark, Hylton, LuaLua

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We say: Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Luton Town

With both clubs having generally performed well since the start of the season, a competitive encounter should be played out in Yorkshire this weekend. Their respective backlines have been performing better than their attacks, however, and that may lead to an uninspiring low-scoring draw.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 Sheffield Wednesday win with a probability of 36.89%. A win for Luton Town had a probability of 33.69% and a draw had a probability of 29.4%.

The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield Wednesday win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.47%) and 2-0 (7.12%). The likeliest Luton Town win was 0-1 (12.08%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.43%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood.