3/4West Ham (4-2-3-1): Alphonse Aréola; Vladimír Coufal; Kurt Zouma; Angelo Ogbonna; Emerson Palmieri; James Ward-Prowse; Tomáš Souček; Jarrod Bowen; Lucas Paquetá; Mohammed Kudus; Michail Antonio;
Luton (3-4-2-1): Thomas Kaminski; Reece Burke; Teden Mengi; Gabriel Osho; Fred Onyedinma; Albert Sambi Lokonga; Ross Barkley; Alfie Doughty; Carlton Morris; Tahith Chong; Elijah Adebayo;
If the Luton team loses in the upcoming match against West Ham, they will indeed get relegated back to the Championship. Currently, the Hatters sit in the eighteenth position, three points behind Nottingham Forest, which, however, also has a much better goal difference. West Ham went on to win the first leg at Luton. The Hammers won 2-1 in their visit to Kenilworth Road, with Jared Bowen and Kurt Zouma scoring for them. The goal for the Hatters was scored by Mads Juhl Andersen in the 92nd minute, who has been injured since December.
The upcoming match is irrelevant for West Ham as the team is now without chances to reach the top six of the standings. Two rounds before the end of the season, the Hammers are in the ninth position, seven points less than sixth-placed Newcastle. Last weekend, West Ham sealed their fate after conceding their thirteenth loss. The “Wine Reds” fell heavily 0-5 away to Chelsea, who, with this victory, passed them by five points. This was also the fourth consecutive game without a win for the Hammers. Previously, they drew 2-2 with Liverpool and lost to Crystal Palace and Fulham.
Luton’s team also won only one point from the previous four rounds. The Hatters were on a run of three successive defeats but broke it on the third day of this month when they drew 1-1 with Everton at Kenilworth Road. Striker Elijah Adebayo scored the goal that brought the point for Luton. Otherwise, the upcoming visitors scored one goal again in their previous three games but conceded 1-5 losses to Manchester City and Brentford and fell 1-2 to Wolverhampton.
In the upcoming away game at West Ham, the Luton team will try to break their streak of five consecutive away defeats. The Hatters are also winless as an away side in 2024. However, since December, Luton has scored in each of their matches away from home, with the exception of their visit to standings leader Arsenal. I think that the Hatters will not miss to score, but they will most likely continue their negative losing streak, which will equal relegation to the Championship.