Luton v West Ham: Goals fancied on Friday night

• Luton fired up for Kenilworth Road inauguration

• West Ham unreliable odds-on away favourites

• Read Betfair's new 90 Minute Payout offer here

• Claim your free Acca or Bet Builder here!

Luton v West Ham
Friday September 1, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports

It's been a tough introduction to life in the Premier League for new boys Luton 5.004/1. The Hatters have suffered 4-1 and 3-0 defeats at Brighton and Chelsea, facing 46 shots and 20 on-target attempts in the process. Rob Edwards' outfit have only managed to land three of their own efforts on-target, one of which was a penalty.

But Luton's survival ambitions are unlikely to hinge on their ability to get results from The Amex and Stamford Bridge. Instead, a first home outing under the lights at a boisterous Kenilworth Road, especially welcoming a non-Big-7 opponent, should stir the senses and the Hatters will fancy their chances of bloodying the nose of a few unsuspecting visitors.

West Ham 1.834/5 have made a positive start to the campaign with David Moyes' contain and counter approach paying dividends against both Brighton and Chelsea. The Hammers have also seen James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez make positive impressions following big-money moves with the exciting Mohammed Kudus also now in tow.

However, Moyes' pragmatism has often proven the Irons undoing when facing bottom-half opposition. Since the beginning of last season, West Ham have returned just W1-D3-L6 when travelling to the bottom-10, recording a solitary shutout in the process. In fact, the visitors have kept their sheets clean just once in 20 away days since the start of 2022/23.

Goals on the agenda

So I'm happy to swerve West Ham as odds-on favourites for Friday night's fixture and instead invest focus on goals with Over 2.5 Goals trading at 1.981/1 and Both Teams To Score an appealing option at 1.9210/11. The Hammers' have delivered a 3/3 win-rate in the BTTS market this term, whilst their aforementioned road record causes obvious concern.

Luton netted in 17 of their 22 tussles with top-half Championship teams during their promotion campaign and the Hatters will be highly-motivated to make their mark on the inauguration of Kenilworth Road as a Premier League venue. Town should get opportunities against a West Ham defence that's already faced the third-most shots in the division.

Get a free Acca or Bet Builder this weekend

Betfair are offering a free acca or Bet Builder this weekend to use on football and with that in mind, i'm keen to take the Bet Builder route.

With that in-mind, ambitious punters could be keen to support a West Ham win, alongside Both Teams To Score with Jarrod Bowen to score for an eye-catching offering of 8.67767/100 via the Sportsbook.