Stevenage will welcome Championship side Luton Town to the Lamex Stadium for the first round of the EFL Cup as the two sides look to continue their impressive starts to the season.
Each team picked up three points on the opening day of their respective leagues, keeping clean sheets in the process which sets up an intriguing cup tie.
Match preview
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Luton Town enjoyed life during their second season in the Championship last year, having an improved finish of 12th place, which was a big step up from the 19th position they ended the 2019-20 campaign.
The Hatters had a strong pre-season as well which saw them earn three victories and a draw, scoring 20 goals in the process in order to set themselves up for the new season.
Luton took that goalscoring ability into the opening game of the season as they hosted newly-promoted Peterborough United, picking up a 3-0 win which saw Fred Onyedinma score on his debut.
Nathan Jones was impressed with his team and how the new signings adapted with an immediate impact, and with a large squad for the new season, he has plenty of options for the upcoming fixture.
Last season the Hatters made it to the third round of the competition with victories against Norwich City and Reading before they ultimately crashed out in a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United.
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However, while the visitors have built up plenty of confidence for themselves, Stevenage also started the season well with a 1-0 victory against Barrow to earn three points.
The perfect start to the campaign is something Alex Revell will take belief from, following their strong pre-season that saw three victories and a draw against Premier League side Watford adding to that.
Experienced midfielder and new signing Jake Reeves scored the only goal of the League Two opener for Stevenage to continue the impressive form in which they ended last season, which took them away from the relegation zone to finish mid-table in 14th place.
However, their spell in the EFL Cup did not prove to be a memorable one last season, failing to get past the first round after being knocked out on penalties by Portsmouth.
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Team News
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Luton Town were left needing to fill a void when James Collins was sold to Cardiff City, but Nathan Jones recruited well over the summer, bringing in Onyedinma to replace him.
However, the club also signed a number of other players including experienced midfielder Henri Lansbury who could be in contention to start this fixture with his knowledge being useful in cup football.
Youngster Peter Kioso has also been knocking on the door during pre-season after good loans away from the club, and this cup fixture could prove to be the perfect game to introduce him into the starting lineup.
In contrast to the youth of Kioso, experienced Luton defender Sonny Bradley could look to make his way back into the team after not being featured in the victory over Peterborough.
On the other hand, Stevenage have also brought in several new faces and while Bradley Barry did not feature against his former club on Saturday, there is a good chance he could earn a debut in the EFL Cup on Tuesday.
Reeves managed to score on his league debut for the club and will likely retain his position, as could loanee goalkeeper Joseph Anang who kept a clean sheet in his first run out.
Two more new faces in the forms of Jake Taylor and Jamie Reid also made their first starts in the league against Barrow and considering the impressive result, it is likely that there will not be too many changes to the starting lineup.
Stevenage possible starting lineup:
Anang; Barry, Cuthbert, Vancooten, Coker; Osborne, Taylor, Lines, Reeves; Reid, Norris
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Sluga; Kioso, Bradley, Osho, Bell; Campbell, Lansbury, Clark; Cornick, Onyedinma, Adebayo
We say: Stevenage 0-3 Luton Town
Luton Town are a team in confidence right now and after starting the season in prolific fashion they will be looking to continue that with another strong victory.
The club has recruited well over the summer and brought together a strong squad that will be more than capable of competing in both the league and cup at the same time.
Top tip
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 Luton Town win with a probability of 53.5%. A draw had a probability of 24.8% and a win for Stevenage had a probability of 21.69%.
The most likely scoreline for a Luton Town win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.59%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.21%) and 1-2 (9.54%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.76%), while for a Stevenage win it was 1-0 (7.25%).
