Luton Town: Watford surely wish they could fast-forward to October 19th – View | OneFootball

The two rivals are set to go head-to-head next month, with the pair experiencing contrasting starts to the season

It will have been the first date they looked at when the fixtures came out over the summer but right now, Watford and Luton Town fans will have very different feelings about the proposition of playing each other next month.

The Hornets have come flying out the blocks under Tom Cleverley in the 24/25 campaign, with the former Manchester United man masterminding five straight wins in all competitions to start the season.

The Hertfordshire outfit have been scoring goals for fun as they recorded victory after victory, with 15 goals from their first six matches testament to the sort of mindset the whole club is in right now.

Things couldn’t be much different at Kenilworth Road at this moment in time, with the Hatters still struggling for form following their relegation from the Premier League, which will have left those of a Watford persuasion rubbing their hands with glee.

Watford and Luton Town have polar opposite starts to the season

While Luton only won six of their matches in the top flight last season, many expected them to rediscover that winning feeling upon returning to the Football League, but that is yet to be found as yet.

After a 4-1 defeat to Burnley to get their campaign up and running, Rob Edwards has failed to stem the tide from then on, with just two goals scored in their opening four league matches of the season.

A stalemate with Portsmouth followed before a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End and 2-1 loss to Queens Park Rangers compiled the misery for those from Bedfordshire.

With a lack of firepower up top, that Kenilworth Road roar has been severely lacking of late, with teams able to carve the Hatters open at will, and exploit the high line they setup with when defending.

The trip over county borders will have been seen as an intimidating journey some time ago, but with the Hornets in the form they are in, they will be hoping things stay as they are for the next five weeks, before the two can do battle once again.

With the likes of Millwall, Stoke City, and Derby County all blown away at the beginning of the campaign, Cleverley and co. are running hot right now and will feel they can get the better of the majority of sides in the division.

Despite falling to defeat to Sheffield United last time out, the disparity between the two teams was almost negligible, and with summer recruits bedded in, there will be even more anticipation around Vicarage Road as the season gets into full swing.

Watford will be looking to avenge previous Luton Town visit

You have to go back to April 1 2023 for the last time the two sides went toe-to-toe at Kenilworth Road, with Watford looking like the fools that day as the hosts ran out 2-0 victors thanks to goals from Gabriel Osho and Allan Campbell.

With the play-offs well within their sights at the time, the Hatters were in jubilant spirits as they welcomed their neighbours to town, who were having a typical tumultuous time with those in the dugout.

Having axed Edwards [pictured] at the beginning of the campaign, Slaven Bilic couldn’t do much to steady the ship in the following six months, before a simmering Chris Wilder took over until the end of the campaign.

And there couldn’t have been many more delighted people at full time than Edwards, who proved to his former employers just what they had missed out on, as he got ready to take those at the Kenny on a journey of a lifetime.

But 18 months on, the roles are reversed, with the Hatters facing unrest, while the Hornets continue to drive full steam ahead, and their impending matchup just a month away.

They say the form book can often go out the window for derby games, but with the two sides’ trajectories so vastly different, it will be Watford fans counting down the days until the two sides meet once again, with some old scores still yet to be settled.