Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit reveals 25/26 Luton Town prediction involving Plymouth Argyle & Cardiff City | OneFootball

Sky Sports' Lee Hendrie spoke exclusively to Football League World about how the Championship's relegated trio may fare in League One next season

Luton Town will be bidding to gain promotion back out of League One at the very first attempt following consecutive relegations from the Premier League to English football's third-tier in a stunning and swift demise.

Having arguably vacated the Premier League in the best health of all three relegated sides, the Hatters were strongly tipped for promotion but fell inconceivably short of those expectations by spending the entirety of the 2024/25 Championship campaign fighting against the drop.

The mid-season appointment of Matt Bloomfield from Wycombe Wanderers injected fresh life into a side which had run its course under popular ex-boss Rob Edwards, though their efforts were marginally not enough as the likes of Derby County, Portsmouth and Oxford United all enjoyed strong form in the final throes of the campaign.

Despite winning three encounters on the bounce at the end of April and losing just two of their remaining ten matches, Luton ultimately suffered relegation by virtue of goal difference as they fell to a 5-3 final day defeat away to West Bromwich Albion on an afternoon where Hull picked an all-important point at Portsmouth.

Thus, Luton will be joining Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City in League One next season, where they will fancy their chances of returning to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Lee Hendrie's 25/26 Luton Town League One prediction involving Plymouth and Cardiff

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie believes that Luton are the best-placed of the three relegated sides to gain promotion from League One in 2025/26.

Although Hendrie has predicted the Hatters to lose a host of prized assets, which is natural following relegation, he believes that the club's ongoing mandated parachute payments package from the Premier League will place them in "good stead" to invest this summer and plot a successful promotion bid.

Entering their second year in receipt of parachute payments, Luton will reportedly receive a figure of £30 million - and it's easy to see why Hendrie has predicted them to fare better than the likes of Plymouth and Cardiff.

"Out of the teams that have been relegated, it's such a difficult one out of these three," Hendrie told FLW.

"I personally think Luton will lose a lot of their big players and that's where I think they will struggle, but they will have the money to throw back at trying to get back into the Championship because of the parachute payments.

"I think they will stand in good stead of getting promoted.

"I think Cardiff have just been hanging on at times season after season. It's such a big football club that should be doing way, way better but I still think it's a club that has to re-establish itself and that's why they've ended up being relegated.

"I feel they've been hanging on, you saw it with Birmingham and eventually the inevitable is going to happen. I'm not saying Cardiff will struggle in League One, but I think they'll have to find something to give them a chance [of promotion].

"Plymouth, likewise, there are players who have impressed over the season and may move back to Championship clubs for good fees. Some of those players have been able to step up and produce performances for Plymouth.

"Of the three, I personally think Luton would have more of a chance of coming up, even though they will probably lose a lot of their key players. I just think they will be able to invest with the parachute payments that will be ongoing for them."

Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City need to sort manager situations to compete with Luton Town in 25/26

As things stand, Hendrie is perfectly justified in declaring Luton as the favourites to compete for promotion of the three sides.

After all, Luton not only finished above Cardiff and Plymouth, both of whom were set for League One football before the final day, but can also rest in the knowledge that Bloomfield will be overseeing their third-tier campaign next time out.

Plymouth do not yet have that security over the future of popular head coach Miron Muslic, who has refused to confirm whether he will remain at Home Park next term amid unhappiness behind the scenes with the footballing structure at Argyle.

Cardiff, meanwhile, do not even have a manager in place amid their search for a new permanent successor to Omer Riza following his dismissal last month, with midfielder Aaron Ramsey taking charge on a caretaker basis.

In Bloomfield, though, Luton have a manager who was rivalling Chris Davies' star-studded, record-breaking Birmingham City for the division's top spot at the time of his departure from Wycombe Wanderers, and he has both the playing and financial resources to deliver real success at Kenilworth Road in 25/26.