Another familiar result unfolded for Birmingham City as they suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Leeds United on Saturday, but again, The Blues bounced back on home turf at their St Andrews fortress with a midweek 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers.
These welcome three points for the hosts have moved Birmingham City up into 11th place and just 3 points adrift of the play-off pack, and Pep Clotet’s boys will no doubt be eyeing off another maximum haul when they entertain lowly Luton Town at home on Saturday afternoon.
Despite losing their last 3 away matches on the trot at Derby County, Wigan Athletic and Leeds United, Birmingham know that producing results at home will be crucial if they’re to achieve a top half position (or better) in the Championship this season.
Having won 4 of their first 6 matches at St Andrews so far this season, Birmingham have achieved this so far this term with wins gained over Barnsley, Stoke City, Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers - all of whom occupy positions in the bottom half of the Championship; as do their upcoming visitors, 18th placed Luton Town.
Onto Luton Town and as mentioned, the visitors occupy 18th place in the Championship league table as the newcomers have more or less held their own so far upon their return to this season’s second tier.
Recent wins against Blackburn Rovers (away) and a 3-0 home win against Bristol City halve helped ensure that The Hatters have avoided being dragged down nearer the bottom three of the Championship, but defeats at Derby County and Fulham have shown their inconsistencies on their travels.
Honours have been even so far this season on home turf at Kenilworth Road as Luton have picked up 2 wins, 2 draws but also 2 defeats, but it’s their results away from home which will be a concern for Graeme Jones and his squad.
Although Luton have also registered a win on the road at Barnsley this term, the visitors have already suffered 5 defeats to date on their travels following losses at Cardiff City, Sheffield Wednesday, QPR, Derby County and Fulham.
The bigger picture doesn’t bode well for Luton either as they’ve collected just 3 wins out of their last 25 matches on the road in the Championship, and they’ll be up against a confident Birmingham side riding on the back of their recent 1-0 win over Blackburn.