Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers meet in the Championship on Friday evening still looking for their first league victory of the season.

The sides, who sit in 19th and 23rd place in the standings respectively, lock horns for the second time in three days after their EFL Cup second round tie.

Luton's Search for a Win

Given their spirited effort in the Premier League, hopes were high that Luton would quickly make the transition back into EFL life and feature in the top half of the table. Instead, Rob Edwards finds himself needing to rouse a team that have failed to win in four matches in all competitions, scoring just two goals in the process.

Luton have improved since losing 4-1 at home to Burnley in their first game, and credit is warranted for holding Portsmouth to a goalless draw after the first-half dismissal of their goalkeeper. Nevertheless, a 1-0 defeat at Preston North End was followed by a 1-1 draw at QPR in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, their hosts prevailing 4-1 in a penalty shootout.

Although Edwards will continue to be backed at Kenilworth Road, he needs to get a win on the board as soon as possible, ideally on Friday with a victory enough to move Luton into at least 12th position.

QPR's Mixed Form

From QPR's perspective, they are on a four-match unbeaten run in all competitions, helped by progressing through two rounds of the EFL Cup. However, they are still without success in the Championship, albeit with one of their two points coming from a stirring comeback at another relegated Premier League side in Sheffield United.

The big disappointments have come at Loftus Road, Marti Cifuentes first watching West Bromwich Albion record a 3-1 victory before his side failed to make the most of their advantage against Plymouth Argyle. Wayne Rooney's side were down to 10 men for over an hour and had nine men in added-on time, yet QPR had to settle for a 1-1 draw that would have felt like a defeat.

QPR also head into this encounter having failed to keep a clean sheet in five matches, although they have netted in each of the same games.

The Match

Luton started brightly, with their early pressure paying off in the 18th minute when a corner from Alfie Doughty was headed goalwards by Mark McGuinness, the ball bouncing off Jimmy Dunne and into the net for an unfortunate own goal.

QPR struggled to get back into the game after conceding and Luton continued to create chances, with Elijah Adebayo and Carlton Morris both coming close to adding to the scoreline. QPR did have a few chances of their own, with Karamoko Dembele and Michael Frey both testing the Luton goalkeeper.

In the end, Luton held on for a valuable 1-0 victory, their first league win of the season. The victory will give Luton some much-needed confidence and will hopefully set them on the path to a successful season. QPR, on the other hand, will be disappointed with their performance and will need to improve quickly if they are to challenge for a place in the top six.

A Look Ahead

Both teams will be looking to build on their performances in this match. Luton will be hoping to carry their momentum into their next game, while QPR will be looking to bounce back from this defeat. It promises to be a fascinating encounter, and the two sides will be eager to make up for their lackluster starts to the season.

Key Highlights

• Luton won both league meetings with QPR the last time they met in 2022-23, as many victories as they’d managed in their previous 25 against the Hoops (D9 L14).

• QPR have lost just two of their last 12 away league games against Luton (W5 D5), though one of these was in their most recent visit in October 2022 (1-3).

• Luton lost 4-1 at home to Burnley in their opening league game of the season; they haven’t lost successive Championship matches at Kenilworth Road since November 2021.

• QPR have lost just one of their last eight away league games (W4 D3), after having lost four of their first eight such games under Martí Cifuentes (W2 D2).

• QPR’s Karamoko Dembele has created more chances than any other player in the Championship this season (12) with the nine he created against Plymouth Argyle last time out the most by a Rs player in a league game since Luke Freeman versus Brentford in April 2017 (also 9).

What's Next?

Luton will be looking to build on their win against QPR when they travel to Cardiff City on Saturday. QPR, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back from their defeat when they host Bristol City at Loftus Road on the same day.