Luton Town welcome Mark Hughes’ Stoke City in Capital One Cup 2nd round

Luton haven’t won since their shock 3-1 victory over Bristol City in the Capital One Cup first round. They are understandably 9/2 outsiders with Coral to beat Stoke City who they host next time out.

A brace from forward Jack Marriot and one from his strike partner Paul Benson gave them the goals which sent them through against the Championship side and are 3/1 and 14/5 respectively to net again anytime.

Since the two sides last met in the 2006/07 season as Championship outfits, both have endured dramatically different changes. The Potters are now an established Premier League side, while Luton dropped into the Conference after consecutive relegations, before earning promotion back to League Two in the 2013/14 season.

Both fixtures finished in draws, while the season before that, the Staffordshire outfit took six points. Mark Hughes’ side are substantially odds-on at 4/6 to win, while Coral offer a match special of 2/1 for Stoke to win by two or more goals in 90 minutes.

Xherdan Shaqiri could feature, having been impressive on his debut as he set up Mame Biram Diouf’s opening goal away at Norwich City. For the Swiss star to score anytime, he is 9/5, though customers can get odds of 7/2 for him to score and the Potters to win in 90 minutes. Diouf, meanwhile, is 9/2 to break the deadlock, while Peter Crouch who has won the FA Cup with Liverpool is 6/4 in the anytime market.

The winger is targeting a good season with his new club, which could well be marked by a Wembley appearance if Stoke can reach the final of the Capital One Cup. “We’re not playing in the Europa or Champions League, so you want to go as far as possible,” he said.

While the team are starting to click, Shaqiri admits there is still work to do. “I cut in and cross very fast so it is important the striker is in the box,” Shaqiri added after the Norwich match.