Matchweek Five sees the first-ever meeting between Fulham and Luton Town in the Premier League when the Hatters travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon to take on the Cottagers. Football FanCast has everything you need to know about the fixture before the two sides go head-to-head in the Premier League this weekend.
Well, technically, all of Luton’s first 19 games this season will be the first time that fixture has been played in the Premier League due to this season being the club’s first foray into England’s top division in its current guise. And even though it’s still early in the season, the five games played by Fulham and the four by Luton can give us a small insight into their form and how they might fare in this upcoming clash.
Fulham started the season strong with a 1-0 away win against Everton, but have seriously struggled since with a 3-0 defeat to fellow West Londoners Brentford and a 5-1 thumping away to treble-winning Manchester City. Granted, they came away from the Emirates with a point, but it’s hard to say that their performance merited one, given that they had less than a third of the possession, and the Gunners ended the game with 11 shots on target.
That said, they were able to halt Ange Postecoglou’s new-look Tottenham Hotspur at home in the EFL Cup thanks to a penalty shoot-out win, which looks to be no small feat at the moment.
Luton, on the other hand, have had an interesting start to their first campaign back in the top flight, as despite looking quite good at points against Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United, they came away from both games empty-handed. They also suffered a pretty heavy 3-0 defeat away to Chelsea, with their only win so far coming against Gillingham in the EFL Cup.
Ultimately, neither side has started the new season how they would’ve liked and with Fulham in 13th place and Luton all the way down in 19th, both will be desperate to get some more points on the board as soon as possible.
Fulham vs Luton: What's their head-to-head record?
Despite never facing off against one another in the Premier League, Fulham and Luton Town are no strangers to one another, having played each other 47 times across all competitions since their initial meeting in January 1908, over 100 years ago.
While 47 games is a relatively significant number, it also seems much smaller than you might expect, given that their first encounter was over a century ago. Well, the reason the number isn’t much higher is the 20 year gap between their first meeting in 1908 and their second in 1928. They also went another 20 years without meeting between 1999 and 2019.
This is because, in those periods, Luton were often in the leagues below Fulham, falling all the way down to the Conference from 2009 to 2014.
You’d probably expect then that because the Cottagers have spent more time in the top flight than their Bedfordshire opponents, the history of this fixture would be heavily weighted in their favour, not necessarily.
While the West Londoners have won more games – 22 to be exact – Luton aren’t far behind, with 16 to their name. In all, this is quite the competitive fixture, and there’s no reason this weekend’s encounter will be any different.
Fulham Wins
22
Draws
8
Luton Town Wins
16
Fulham vs Luton: What's their Second Division record?
The two sides have only ever met in the old First Division twice in their entire history, in the 1959/60 season, with both sides winning their home ties. So it seems more apt to compare their records against one another from their far more frequent encounters in England’s second tier. These games took place both pre and post-Championship.
The numbers here, perhaps unsurprisingly, mirror the overall record between these sides, with Fulham just about edging things. In total, the West Londoners have won 18 of their 37 second-tier encounters with Luton, giving them a win rate of 48.6%.
The Hatters, on the other hand, are just behind with 14 wins, giving them a win rate of 37.8%, while there have been just five draws.
Fulham Wins
18
Draws
5
Luton Town Wins
14
Fulham vs Luton: What's their record at Fulham?
Well, while the fixture on a whole has tended to be reasonably balanced, with the Cottagers just about edging things, this certainly isn’t the case when they play host. In the 24 games played at Craven Cottage, Fulham have won a seriously impressive 16 times, which means they hold a 66.6% win rate at home.
For their part, Luton have won just three games at the Cottage, one less than the number of games they’ve drawn. We’re sure Rob Edwards will be hoping to buck the trens come Saturday.
Fulham Wins
16
Draws
4
Luton Town Wins
3
Fulham vs Luton: What's their record at Luton?
The Hatters have been able to establish some dominance of their own at Kenilworth Road over the years, even if it doesn’t quite stack up to Fulham’s. In total, the Bedfordshire side have played host to the West Londoners 23 times and come away winners on 13 occasions – a win rate of 56.5%.
Fulham have put up a better fight when away from home compared to the hosts, winning six times and earning at least a point four times.
Fulham Wins
6
Draws
4
Luton Town Wins
13
Fulham vs Luton: Which team has the most goals?
Well, given their slight edge in this game over the years, it probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to hear that it’s Fulham who have scored more goals against Luton and not the other way around. That said, with only 19 goals separating the sides, It’s once again a reasonably close affair.
The Whites have scored 85 goals against their Bedfordshire opponents in their 47 games, meaning they score an impressive average of 1.8 goals per game. Whereas, Luton’s 66 goals give them a still respectable average of 1.4.
Fulham Goals
85
Luton Town Goals
66
