Key events
14 mins: Doughty pings a free-kick from the right out to Morris, he controls it well but his pull-back is blocked without fuss and the move breaks down.
12 mins: Doughty swings in a corner which is head back across goal by Morris. Trafford comes out to palm it away from danger and Burnley manage to clear.
10 mins: Luton are keeping their cool and knocking the ball about as they look to find a gap in the Burnley midfield.
8 mins: Pires has showed himself to be more useful than anyone who played left-back for Burnley in the entirety of last season and he’s only eight minutes into his debut.
Down the other end Adebayo gets a chance on the edge of the box but his shot is lacking power and Trafford gobbles up.
GOAL! Luton 0-1 Burnley (Brownhill, 6)
Speaking of how good Brownhill is … the central midfielder makes a great run to get away from Nelson, allowing him to latch onto a perfect pass from Pires and roll the ball through Kaminski’s legs.
6 mins: Nelson shows great composure on the ball in the centre of midfield. He is up against Brownhill and Cullen who are two of the best in this league.
4 mins: Neither side has mustered anything close to an attack in the early stages. Maybe they are conserving energy until the sun goes down.
2 mins: Burnley are passing it around at the back which was one of their big downfalls last season. Luton will press them, that’s for sure.
Luton are doing pretty similar but without the rush to break the press.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
The players are out. Luton are wearing last season’s orange home kit which they have kept for a second season.
The pitch is being watered which is useful because it is very much the hottest day of the year in the UK. Keep hydrated out there, lads.
And …. you’re sacked.
Luton academy graduates Joe Johnson and Zack Nelson start tonight.
“I’ve liked the look of us in pre season,” says Rob Edwards. “Tonight is a celebration of our academy, we’ve got two of those players starting, and two more teenagers on the bench. They’ve performed really well in pre season.
“I can see a really good performance. I think there will be mistakes, from both sides, but that’s fine. We’re evolving as a football club and we want to bring through our own players. They have earned their starts.”
Sky have created a montage that gives the impression they were close to staying up. They were completely out of their depth, sadly.
Sander Berge is missing for Burnley tonight through a small injury.
Scott Parker has got a new job as your cool music teacher and spends his weekends surfing in Cornwall.
I saw 11 Burnley matches last season, I believe. It will be interesting to see how they change under Parker. I am working on the assumption he will play Vitinho in central midfield which will be an intriguing plan. He has two excellent wingers in Odobert and Koleosho. It is especially good to see the American back; he looked an excellent prospect in the Premier League but injury brought a premature end to his season.
If you want to hear my voice listen to today’s Football Weekly.
Obviously we should all be discussing the fact that Wout Weghorst is still a Burnley player and very much on the bench tonight. He must be looking to move.
The fun has already started at one Lancashire club.
Starting lineups
Luton (5-3-2): Kaminski; Ogbene, Walters, Menhi, Johnson, Doughty; Baptiste, Nelson, Chong; Morris, Adebayo
Subs: Shea, Bell, Woodrow, Mpanzu, Taylor, Holmes, Townsend Francis-Clarke, Chigozie
Burnley (4-3-3): Trafford; Roberts, O’Shea, Esteve, Pires; Vitinho, Cullen, Brownhill; Odobert, Foster, Koleosho
Subs: Hladky, Rodriguez, Benson, Twine, Zaroury, Weghorst, McNally, Hountondji, Massengo
Preamble
The Championship has started in style and what better way to conclude the opening weekend of the season than with a match that was a Premier League fixture in 2023-24?
Luton are back in the second tier but in far better shape that when they broke through the glass ceiling 15 months ago. The revitalised Ross Barkley and loan players have headed back to their parents clubs but otherwise Luton have a squad that gave it a ruddy go in the top flight and aspirations to go back under Rob Edwards.
Burnley are more of an unknown quantity. Vincent Kompany shocked the industry by trading the Clarets for Bayern Munich in the summer, leaving them to scratch out for a replacement, eventually plumping for Scott Parker. The former Fulham boss was greeted by 40 professionals a month ago and has the complex job of creating a cohesive unit out of what Kompany left for him. The Clarets steamrollered the Championship but were desperately poor for much of their year in the Premier League. It will be interesting how the look tonight.
Here’s to a cracker!
Kick-off: 8pm BST.