Brentford vs Luton Prediction: Bees to get their buzz back

An 89th-minute winner from Arsenal's Kai Havertz left Brentford reeling at the Gtech Community Stadium last weekend, but the Bees have the opportunity to put things right in front of their fans on Saturday afternoon (15:00) as they host Luton Town in the Premier League.

Brentford's pain last Saturday was in sharp contrast to the elation felt by Luton, who beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Kenilworth Road to put a five-point gap between themselves and the bottom-three.

Below we have previewed Saturday's game and suggested a couple of betting angles for you to consider as Brentford look to return to winning ways.

Team News

Influential midfielder Mathias Jensen missed Brentford's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal last Saturday but Thomas Frank is hopeful that the Danish midfielder will return this weekend. Similarly, defender Mads Roerslev was out against the Gunners but should be back for the visit of the Hatters. Starts for both would probably see Saman Ghoddos and Yegor Yarmolyuk drop out of the starting XI.

The game probably comes too soon for Mikkel Damsgaard, who made his return from injury in a friendly earlier this week, while Kevin Schade, Nathan Collins, Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry are longer-term absentees.

Luton will be missing Marvelous Nakamba, Mads Andersen and Reece Burke on Saturday, but they hope to get Issa Kabore back after following concussion protocol.

Jacob Brown will be pushing for a start after his match-winning goal off the bench against Palace, and that could see Andros Townsend drop out.

Match Odds

Brentford are 4/9 to win at home for the third time this season, while Luton are priced at 6/1 for a second away win. A draw is available at 10/3.

Both teams to score has won in five of the seven Premier League games at the Gtech Community Stadium this season, and it's 5/6 for it to happen again.

Brentford to win and under 3.5 goals @ 23/20

Back-to-back defeats against a couple of title-chasing clubs shouldn't completely drain the momentum Brentford had built up in the three games prior. They can consider themselves unfortunate to lose 1-0 to Arsenal, while numerous clubs have already faced the wrath of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at Anfield. Before that they had beaten West Ham, Chelsea and Burnley at an aggregate of 8-2.

Frank's side should certainly be confident of beating Luton, given they have won each of their last five home league games against promoted sides, including that 3-0 against the Clarets in October.

Nine points at the Gtech puts them 11th in the Premier League home table, while Luton's poor away record is 'beaten' only by Sheffield United, who have played a game less. The Hatters have picked up just four points from seven games on the road, a win at 19th-placed Everton and a draw at bottom-half Nottingham Forest.

Three of Luton's five away defeats have seen under 3.5 goals, with Rob Edwards' side failing to score three times on their travels. Brentford have been uncharacteristically leaky in defence at home, but I think they will address those issues sufficiently on Saturday against a side much weaker than them. Six of their last seven games have seen under 3.5 goals.

Bretford to win to nil @ 11/8

Taking things up a notch, I'm backing Brentford to keep a first clean sheet since October 28 on Saturday. They were mightily close to one against a star-studded Arsenal squad last time out, and two of their last three wins saw them shut out the opposition.

Luton have improved in front of goal, scoring in four of their last five, but the Bees showed their class in their last clash with a newly-promoted side, and I think they will control this one, too.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips on our Football homepage.