Luton Town play host to Fulham on Sunday afternoon knowing that only one of their biggest wins in their history will give them any chance of Premier League survival.
At a time when the Hatters are realistically merely playing for pride, Fulham make the trip to Kenilworth Road still with the hope of finishing in 12th position in the standings.
When Luton took the lead against West Ham United at the London Stadium last weekend, Rob Edwards and the club’s supporters would have been dreaming of remaining on contention for the great escape.
Although Luton have always remained in contention to beat the drop, the fact that they had only won once in 15 matches prior to the meeting with the Hammers would have ensured that avoiding relegation deserved that mantle.
However, losing 3-1 in the capital has left last season’s Championship playoff winners three points adrift of Nottingham Forest with an inferior goal difference of 12 goals.
There is already an acceptance that Luton will drop back down to the second tier at the first time of asking, and there can be few complaints with 23 defeats coming from 37 matches.
To their credit, they have collected five points from their last four games at Kenilworth Road, but only winning four times on home territory all season has been their undoing.
Despite effectively being relegated, Luton will want to earn the point that they require to finish in 18th, earning them several more million pounds compared to if they drop below Burnley.
