3 things we clearly learnt about Luton Town during their 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth | OneFootball

Icon: Football League World

Football League World

·27 September 2021

3 things we clearly learnt about Luton Town during their 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth

Article image:3 things we clearly learnt about Luton Town during their 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth

Luton Town fell to their third defeat of the new Championship season on Saturday, with a 2-1 loss away at league leaders Bournemouth.

Phillip Billing guided home a volley to give the hosts the lead in the 17th minute before Dominic Solanke nodded in to double the lead 14 minutes later.


OneFootball Videos


Reece Burke set up a tense final 25 minutes for The Cherries when he tapped in to halve the deficit midway through the second half.

The Hatters are now without a Championship win in six games, and whilst performance levels have not been too concerning, the importance of winning three points is increasing game by game.

Quiz: Have Luton Town ever been involved in these 18 scenarios?

1 of 18

Have Luton ever won the FA Cup?

Yes

No

A number of injuries to first-team players has left Nathan Jones with a fairly thin squad and he will be hoping to use the fast-approaching international break as an opportunity to get players back into the swing of things.

Luton host high-flying Coventry City at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday, but before focussing on that, here are three things that we learned about Luton after their narrow defeat at the Vitality Stadium…

Love the EFL? Want to share your opinions about your club? Get involved by subscribing to FLW TV on Youtube HERE!

Creating chances is not the problem

Elijah Adebayo squandered a glorious opportunity to give Luton the lead against The Cherries, just a couple of minutes before Billing made The Hatters pay.

The towering forward also had a great chance to equalise late into the game, but his mistimed header landed past Mark Travers’ post.

The Hatters created several chances to work their way back into the game, with the aforementioned opportunities perhaps the more glaring ones.

This was not just a theme that emerged on Saturday, it is something that Luton have seen creeping into their performances of late, with recent draws with Swansea City and Bristol City also following this trend.

Luton can cope with several absentees

Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Allan Campbell, Fred Onyedinma, Allan Campbell, Dan Potts, and Danny Hylton all missed the trip to the south coast, whilst Sonny Bradley and Amari’i Bell returned to the bench.

Luton were hit with several absentees as the season started, but when those players started to return, they have been hit with a second spell of injuries.

However, those players who were considered to be on the fringe of things have stepped up, and whilst they fell to a defeat at Bournemouth, they competed extremely well with a side who are yet to be defeated and sit top of the table.

Jones will be extremely confident of kicking on once players return to fitness.

Defending crosses remains a problem area

Luton have been undone by several crosses and set-piece routines thus far, and Saturday proved to be nothing different.

The first goal was worked well by Bournemouth, but a lapse of concentration from Luton’s backline allowed Billing to drift forward and latch onto Ryan Christie’s perfectly-weighted lifted ball.

The second goal was also worked well by The Cherries, but it was a short corner that allowed Christie to stand the ball up for Solanke to nod home.

View publisher imprint