Premier League action returns to a sell-out Kenilworth Road this weekend as Luton Town host Crystal Palace.
Rob Edwards’ Hatters went into the final international break of 2023 with defeat on their mind after the loss at Manchester United.
Roy Hodgson’s Palace will be grateful for the return of key players from injury following their defeat to Everton before the interval.
The opposition
Hodgson returned to Selhurst Park towards the end of last season and extended his second stint in South London this summer.
Palace have been in the Premier League for 11 consecutive seasons following their Championship play-off promotion against Watford back in 2013.
This season has begun at a consistent pace for the Eagles, who have 15 points under their belt after 12 games.
Andros Townsend knows Palace well after making 168 Premier League appearances for the Eagles between 2016 and 2021.
This is our first meeting with Palace since the 2006/07 Championship season.
Words from Rob
“Palace are a difficult team, and this is not a straightforward game. Palace have players that could play for any team in the Premier League, they have a vastly experienced manager who has got them in a really organised way of playing.
“They’ve already won at Old Trafford, they won at Burnley, they won at Sheffield United, they are difficult to break down. This is a game we have to target, we have to be seen as trying to win this game so we’re going into this positively.
“We’ve had a really good week of work going into it, it was a little bit mixed with the players coming back from international duty. I’m confident we can get a really positive result tomorrow, but it’s not going to be easy and we’re going to need the supporters with us tomorrow.”
Watch The Preview with Rob Edwards ahead of our fixture against Palace...
Last meeting at the Kenny
It was a comfortable victory for the Hatters against Palace despite the 2-1 scoreline back in September 2006.
Carlos Edwards and Rowan Vine scored the goals for the Town to ensure we maintained our unbeaten record at Kenilworth Road at that start of that 2006/07 season.
Last time out
The Hatters left Old Trafford with their heads held high after being applauded off the pitch by the away supporters following defeat to Manchester United before the international break.
Victor Lindelof scored the only goal of the game just before the hour-mark as the Town went home without the points to show for their hardworking performance.
Team news
Issa Kaboré will be missing out after suffering a concussion in Burkina Faso’s first 2026 World Cup qualifier last week.
Chieo Ogbene missed both Republic of Ireland games during the international break, but Rob is hopeful the pacey winger will be involved on Saturday.
Amari’i Bell is up for contention again for the first time in over a month, while Sambi Lokonga is not ready but is progressing in his fight to get fit.
Cauley Woodrow, Reece Burke, Dan Potts and Mads Andersen all remain sidelined.
Officials
The referee for our fixture against Crystal Palace will be Australian Jarred Gillett.
30 yellow cards and two red cards have been handed out by Gillett across his eight games this season.
Gillett oversaw our away matches at Stoke and Middlesbrough in 2019/20 and at Barnsley the following season. It will therefore be the official's first match at Kenilworth Road.
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistant Referees: James Mainwaring & Matthew Wilkes
Fourth Official: James Linington
VAR: Robert Jones
AVAR: Ian Hussin
LOVE FOOTBALL. PROTECT THE GAME.
Luton Town Football Club has committed in its customer charter to providing safe match-day experiences for all supporters regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation, and this applies equally to home and away fixtures.
In the event that any Luton supporters do make discriminatory chants, the Club will work with the police and football authorities to help identify such individuals. Any such fans would then face the strictest club sanctions, including football banning orders that would prevent them attending any matches, in addition to any criminal charges.
The Club can also be held responsible for the behaviour of its supporters, which could lead to substantial fines being imposed.
As a diverse and inclusive football club, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our fellow Premier League clubs in supporting the FA’s ‘Love Football. Protect the Game’ campaign and call on all fans to enjoy the game in a positive spirit.
Please email myvoice@lutontown.co.uk if you have any concerns and to report incidents at a Luton Town fixture. You can also report incidents via Kick it Out's free, confidential reporting app on the App Store and Google Play.
Fan information
We would like to remind supporters to arrive at the game as early as possible to ease congestion around the stadium, at the Ticket Office and the turnstiles.
There will be additional road closures around Kenilworth Road on home matchdays.