|
Carlisle travel to Bedforshire tomorrow hoping to improve their record over the years in this fixture. Of the ten games played the Cumbrians have recorded two wins while the Hatters have been victorious five times.
The last time the two teams met at Kenilworth Road was over five years ago in January 2002 when the sides shared the spoils courtesy of a 1-1 draw in a Division Three (fourth tier) match. United took the lead that day through Steve Soley on 51 minutes, with Russell Perrett netting an equaliser for the home side 15 minutes later in front of 6,647 spectators.
There haven't been many matches between the clubs over the years although the Hatters have handed Carlisle two five goal defeat margin hammerings in their five victories at home to the Blues. Those two big wins coming in the space of four seasons, once in Division Two in 1973-74 (6-1), and then again in the same division in the 1976-77 campaign (5-0).
Before those two matches though United had been in good form at Luton in the 1970s, with both their wins at Kenilworth Road coming in that decade, and again in the old Division Two. The first came in 1971-72 by a 2-0 scoreline (goalscorers Bob Hatton and Chris Balderstone, attendance 11,963) and the second coming in the following 72-73 campaign when Bob Owen scored the only goal of the game as 10,091 fans looked on.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2001/2002 | Sat 19 Jan | Luton | 1 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 11 Aug | Carlisle | 0 - 2 | Luton | LGE2 |
| 1997/1998 | Sat 02 May | Luton | 3 - 2 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 1997/1998 | Tue 21 Oct | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Luton | LGE1 |
| 1976/1977 | Sat 26 Mar | Luton | 5 - 0 | Carlisle | CHMP |
| 1976/1977 | Sat 16 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 1 | Luton | CHMP |
| 1975/1976 | Sat 13 Mar | Luton | 3 - 0 | Carlisle | CHMP |
Recent respective form guides
Luton have lost just once in their last six home games, winning four and drawing the other one, that single defeat coming after extra-time to Everton in the Carling Cup last week. A healthy total of twelve goals have been scored by the The Hatters in those games although six have also been conceded.
The Cumbrians have had a decent run of form away from home recently, coming away with three points on three occasions, but drawing one and losing two. The games have constituted a decent return of ten goals for Carlisle and only five against.
Luton see themselves just below half-way in the League One table, in 15th place, showing a record of 17 points from their 14 games played so far, although 16 of those points have been gained at Kenilworth Road. Carlisle meanwhile sit proudly at the top of the division, with their 14 games giving them a return of 27 points.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Last six games form guide | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Luton | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 6 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 15 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
Carlisle are in reasonable form away from home coming into this match, although with Luton playing so well at home the Madmen are quite confident that honours will finish even. Score draw
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Luton | Four games since last home draw. Latest two matches ended in defeat. |
| Carlisle | Won last three games. Last drawn match seven outings ago. |