Football Bet of the Day: Hatters to kick-start season with home win

Friday night sees Luton Town host QPR in the Championship (20:00, Sky Sports Main Event) as the Hatters look to halt their poor start to the new campaign. Rob Edwards’ men have only picked up one point from their three league matches so far, and after relegation from the Premier League they were expecting better. 

Meanwhile, QPR have picked up two points from three games, and will be looking to kick on under Marti Cifuentes. Below you can find my Football Bet of the Day for Friday, August 30.

A lot has been made of Luton’s poor start to this Championship campaign. Rightly so, but we are still only three matches into a 46-game season, and they have a squad that should be right up there in contention for promotion. 

Their results so far have been poor, as they lost 4-1 at home to Burnley on the opening weekend, before drawing 0-0 at Portsmouth, and losing 1-0 to Preston. However, two of Burnley’s goalscorers, Dara O’Shea and Wilson Odobert have already left the club for the Premier League, and Luca Koleosho and Josh Brownhill have also been linked with moves away. 

Luton vs QPR Odds

That simply was not a Championship XI that Luton had to contend with, while a point at Fratton Park was a decent result after Thomas Kaminski was sent off after half an hour. Meanwhile, the timing of their away game at Preston was unfortunate as PNE were handed a fresh start under Paul Heckingbottom and battled to a win. 

So, after three excuses - all of which are reasonable in my eyes, it’s time for Luton to produce. With Elijah Adebayo, Carlton Morris and Tahith Chong, they have an attacking unit that should be able to find goals, while they are coming up against a QPR side that has slightly underperformed at the start of this campaign. 

Cifuentes did incredibly well last season to save them from relegation, and hopes were high that they would push on this term. But they have leaked goals and despite scoring in all four games in all competitions so far, picked up just two points. They fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Bramall Lane in their most impressive showing, but backed that up with a 1-1 home draw with a Plymouth Argyle outfit that finished with nine men.

It is the R’s leaky defence and strong attack that gives me my selection for Friday’s Football Bet of the Day however. I think both teams will find the net at Kenilworth Road, as they have done in all four QPR games this season. But, I think this is the game in which Luton will finally get going. They’ve been unlucky for one reason or another in August, but now is the time that the excuses simply have to stop. I’m still backing them to have a very positive season and be well in contention for automatic promotion.

Edwards won’t panic, but he will want to deliver a top performance on Friday night, and three points in the process. 

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.