David Prutton predicts West Brom showdown v Luton in Championship for Sky Sports
David Prutton has predicted a low-scoring affair when West Brom travel to Kenilworth Road to face Luton Town in the Championship on Saturday (14 December).
The Baggies are in mesmerising form in the league since Carlos Corberans’ succession of Steve Bruce as manager at the Hawthorns, winning five of their six games since the World Cup break.
However, pundit Prutton has predicted the Baggies will lose to their promotion rivals 1-0 when writing his predictions for the Sky Sports website.
Just a point separates the two sides in the Championship table, with a win for West Brom on Saturday taking them into the playoff places for the first time this season. Luton manager Rob Edwards has continued the fine work of predecessor Nathan Jones and sees his side match the three straight wins of West Brom coming into this fixture.
The Baggies, however, will be without striker Brandon Thomas Asante after his elbow in the dying stages of their FA Cup tie against Chesterfield was deemed worthy of a three-match ban.
Tight game
West Brom are on fire in the Championship right now and must put their FA Cup disasterclass against Chesterfield behind them for this crucial clash.
The Baggies went into the third-round encounter with a sense of arrogance about them following their fine run in the league, and they were made to pay by the National League outfit. A replay at the Hawthorns now awaits Corberan’s side in what is already an extremely packed schedule of games over the coming month.
The Spaniard will have to navigate the next three fixtures without Thomas-Asante, and he will hope Daryl Dike is now fit enough to play back-to-back games without the risk of injury.
If Corberan were to lose the American striker, it would come as a huge blow to their promotion chances, so managing the 22-year-old’s minutes will be a fine balancing act over the coming weeks.
Luton will pose a tough test, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see the two promotion-chasing sides share the spoils.
In other West Brom news, Albion are in talks to terminate this big-money player’s contract early.