UNITED WARY
Ten Hag’s side won’t underestimate Hatters
MANCHESTER UNITED manager Erik ten Hag will not underestimate Luton this afternoon but insists going to Kenilworth Road is the same as any other ground.
The Hatters have beaten Newcastle and Brighton at home, drawn with Liverpool and pushed Manchester City and Arsenal all the way before losing by the odd goal.
They surprisingly lost to fellow strugglers Sheffield United when they visited last weekend but Ten Hag will not read much into that result.
‘It doesn’t matter who you face, if you play the best or the worst or in between, it doesn’t matter,’ said the Dutchman, whose side have won
Our aim long term, as stupid as it sounds, is to mix it with big, big teams
five and drawn one of their last six matches.
‘We respect every opponent and definitely we are not in a position to underestimate any opponent, so we will not do.
‘We have to play our best because we have seen their performances across the season are very good, and especially the last weeks, they are really improving.
‘I have a lot of respect for this team, and we have to play our best football.’
United are unbeaten in the last 12 meetings against Luton in all competitions, winning 10 and drawing two.
Their record against newly-promoted clubs – winning the last 11 games and conceding just five – is the best since the latter years of Alex Ferguson’s reign when he won 12 in succession between 2011 and 2013.
And while Kenilworth Road has its own individual idiosyncrasies which most Premier League clubs will not be accustomed to, Ten Hag dismissed whatever effect that may have on his own side this afternoon.
‘The pitch, is it smaller or longer? (Is it) 11 v 11? No referees are coming?’ he added.
‘Every ambience is different, we have to deal with the circumstances, it’s about playing football 11 v 11, we have to make it our game.’
Meanwhile, Luton boss Rob Edwards want his side to grasp the ‘exciting opportunity’ against United having kicked on since scaring some of the top sides at Kenilworth Road.
‘Our challenge is we’ve got a belief and a confidence that we can give anyone a game, especially at home.
‘I think we can go anywhere and give anyone a game and certainly that’s our aim to do that.
‘But I think since those games (in December) we’ve performed even better and continued to grow.
‘So, the challenge is to go and do it again against one of the biggest clubs in the world, which is a really exciting opportunity for us.’
United head to Kenilworth Road buoyed by last weekend’s late 2-1 triumph at fellow Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa. That continued Erik ten Hag’s unbeaten start to 2024, while Luton have failed to win any of the sides’ last 12 meetings in all competitions.
‘Our aim long-term, as stupid as this might sound, is to try and be mixing it with those big, big teams,’ Town boss Edwards said.
‘I think we’ve done well in certain areas, but we know we’ve got to keep improving and working hard as well to keep the back door shut.
‘We know we’re a threat, we know we can score goals.
‘We are going to be coming up against World Cup winners and top, top players as well, so we’ve got to continue to work really hard and doing what we do to create chances.
‘I think the stats will show that we’ve been fairly ruthless given the sort of chances that we’ve created. That’s good, that’s got to continue, but I’d like to be creating more and more big chances as well. It’s not all perfect at all, we’re still a work in progress, we’ve got a lot of areas that we can keep improving.
‘But that does give us confidence. It’s good that we can score goals. You’ve got no chance of winning games if you can’t.’