Football Bet of the Day: 11/5 about a rootin’ tootin’ Luton loss

Matt Bloomfield paid for what you could politely call an ‘indifferent’ start to Luton Town’s season when he was sacked on Monday. Now the Hatters head to Abbey Stadium on Tuesday for a Vertu Trophy group clash with Cambridge United (19:00 BST).

The 2-0 loss at Stevenage on Saturday saw Luton pull the trigger, and a Cambridge side who sit in seventh spot in League 2 are next up. My Football Bet of the Day for Tuesday isn’t going to be kind to the managerless League 1 outfit.

Cambridge United vs Luton Town Odds

While Cambridge are an 11/5 chance for a home win, Luton are 1/1 to get interim boss Alex Lawless a valuable victory to add to the 4-1 success against Barnet in their previous game in Group H of the Southern Section.

It’s 12/5 for a draw at the Abbey, while Betfred are offering a Price Boost on both teams to score in a home victory. From 9/2, you can now get 11/2 about Luton registering in defeat.

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It has been a rocky start to the campaign for Luton, who won their first two league games without conceding a goal but have been hugely unconvincing since.

Bloomfield oversaw just a single win in his last five League 1 games as manager, and the former Wycombe Wanderers boss was always going to be on a short leash.

While the Hatters' relegation from the Championship last season was in large part a result of Rob Edwards' travails before him, there was clearly an expectation for Bloomfield to lead Luton to a commanding position in the third tier.

What's more, the fact that much of the public opinion suggested Edwards had been given too long last season, they were never going to make the same mistake again.

Lawless’ first task after replacing Bloomfield on a temporary basis will be to negotiate a booming Cambridge side who have risen to the play-offs positions in the first couple of months of 2025/26.

The U’s have collected five wins from seven on home territory in all competitions, including a victory over second-tier Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup. Only Oldham Athletic have come away from CB5 with three points in League 2.

Neil Harris has really got Cambridge organised following relegation last term, which is arguably the polar opposite to what Bloomfield was able to achieve after the demotion of Tuesday’s opponents. The U’s been a far tougher prospect at the back since Harris’ return as manager in February.

Having conceded three or more goals six times under Garry Monk last season, the same has happened just once in eight months since the 48-year-old was reappointed 29 games ago. And that was in a narrow 3-2 defeat at Swindon Town in August.

And on Tuesday they come up against a side for whom this competition is simply not a priority. Sure, it is not number one on Cambridge’s wish list for 2026 either, but Luton’s players have had a bit of a week of it given the Bloomfield news and this is not the sort of occasion which automatically picks up spirits.

Cambridge, on the other hand, already have form for picking off a more senior club with that Charlton win in the League Cup. They also have the home advantage, the stability, the form and the direction of travel which suggests they can use this as further proof that they’re a challenger in the fourth tier.

There’s also the Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu factor. After 12 seasons with Luton, during which time he became the first player ever to go from non-league to the Premier League with the same club, the ex-DR Congo international is now at the heart of Cambridge’s midfield.

And wouldn’t it be very football-like for the long-time Hatter to have a big say against his old club.

I just see too many carrots for Cambridge to get this one done against a Luton side who will spend the next week-and-a-half before their next league match concentrating on getting a promotion assault back on the rails and familiarising themselves with new realities at Kenilworth Road.

Cambridge’s 11/5 to win implies just a 31.3% probability, but I believe Luton are more than there for the taking.

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