Luton Town look to overturn a semi-final first-leg defeat at Kenilworth Road this evening, following Sunderland's 2-1 triumph in the north-east.
The Hatters started brightly on Saturday as Elijah Adebayo registered his tenth goal of the season within the first eleven minutes.
However, despite the physicality of Carlton Morris and Adebayo, the Black Cats fought back and tied things up with a fine first half free kick from Amad Diallo before Trai Hume's deft header in the 63rd minute gave the hosts the advantage.
Going into a crucial match in Bedfordshire, here's what Luton will no doubt be building on in order to secure a spot in Wembley's playoff final.
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Physicality is good... but skill is just as vital to unlocking Sunderland's defence
Sunderland approached the game with a makeshift back line due to injury. However, although the defence's tallest player was only 6 foot, Luton's strike force of Adebayo and Morris were relatively well contained.
Not that the line up will be the same tonight, but perhaps Luton need to consider other routes to goal rather than a simply industrial approach. This is where the periphery players like Luke Berry and regulars like Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu need to step up alongside the direct wing play to produce the magic centrally.
Tony Mowbray's Sunderland showed that they could defend the overcrowded box well enough (aside from Adebayo's goal of course) and win the midfield battles as well. Plus, his side showed that they're more than capable of producing moments of class themselves - another thing Luton need to further clock on if they can't always win the physical battle. This bleeds into our next topic of interest.
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More homework needed on Diallo and co. The Man United man caused problems.
Of course, in the Championship a £40 million player is going to make a difference, yet Amad Diallo's game on Saturday was yet another exemplary performance to add to a fine collection this term.
In the preview to this fixture, Diallo was a player to watch for obvious reasons. He had been a thorn in Luton's side in March's previous meeting, and coming into the match with 13 league goals - he was always going to be a problem. The young Ivorian delivered, not only scoring a superb free kick right into the top left corner, but also being the creative spark in an exciting side.
Aside from his relative wondergoal, he had 62 touches, with 34 passes and five out of his eight dribbles completed. His four shots reaped one brilliant goal and on the more defensive side of things, he won eleven out of seventeen duels accompanying 6 successful tackles.
His excellence just illustrated a prior point - Luton must adapt to his ability. And quickly. That said though, one negative could be his penchant for simulation - something he got a booking for at the weekend. Perhaps some employment of the dark arts could set the trap for the Manchester United loanee? That said, it must also be suggested that the focus can't just be on Diallo, as the quality of Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke cannot be understated.
Luton manager Rob Edwards pointed out the influence of key players and the aforementioned decision making in attack:
"They’ve got really good individuals, I thought our pressing and one-v-one defending was very good, the goals they have scored have been an amazing free-kick and a short corner, so we’ve got to be better in those moments, they’ve not cut us open. We had one or two opportunities to do better with our attacking, and that’s what we’re going to work on for Tuesday."
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Discipline and consistency also key for Luton
Although Kenilworth Road will likely be a rowdy venue for this second leg match, Luton's players must keep their heads - as we saw a number of yellow cards on Saturday.
If the starting line up looks anything like the weekend, four of the starting middle five in midfield sit on yellow cards. Inside that pressure cooker that is midfield, Luton could utilise back up players to inject a new much needed dynamism in place of those falling behind. Although an excellent addition this season, Marvellous Nakamba was lucky to stay on the pitch after a rash challenge on Jack Clarke was ignored by the referee when it could have been a second bookable offence.
If anything, to blanket term it, tonight will boil down to consistency for Luton Town. Opening the scoring and starting strongly like they did in the first leg will be crucial to whip the home fans into a frenzy.
Especially with the dangers that Sunderland have at their disposal, these margins of pressure have to be extended to 90 minutes, as a stat can be recalled from toward the end of the first 45' on Saturday - between 11' minutes (Adebayo's goal) and the 35 minute mark, Luton had taken four shots. This was compared to Sunderland's solitary attempt. This was a vast contrast to the second half, where Sunderland flourished and Town lost composure in vital areas.
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Got to make the home advantage count
As was evidently clear at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, the fans play such a key role in the playoffs. While watching the game, the noise levels spiked when the Black Cats simply crossed half way, let alone when they scored.
This is something Luton are looking to replicate this evening. Kenilworth Road of course remains one of the country's most quaint throwback football grounds. The fans are often right on top of those on the pitch and from experience it can be said that in the biggest moments, the crowd's energy seems to infectiously pour into those in the orange shirts.
Luton know all too well the power of their loyal fanbase. Tonight's game is sold out and home fans have even been instructed to get to their seats half an hour before kick off. In his pre-Sunderland press conference, boss Rob Edwards reiterated the importance of a big following in the second leg:
“The smaller pitch changes the game slightly because obviously the distances aren’t as big, but there’s still enough room there for them to try and play their game, it’s just a little bit of distance. We’re used to playing there, so it should suit us a little bit more.
“I think the atmosphere was amazing for the Watford game, if we can use that as a model and notch it up a bit more again that would be what I’d like, and what we need as well. I think that was a great advert for how the Kenny is when it’s at its best.”