Luton Town 9/1 to finish above West Ham United in the 2023/24 Premier League

The Hatters have secured a higher league finish than West Ham in each of their last four top-flight campaigns and we’ve priced the newly-promoted side up at 9/1 to extend that record this season.

Yes, we may have had to flick right back through the history books to dig that stat out, and, yes, a lot has changed in the three decades since… but those hefty odds carry plenty of appeal - especially when you take into consideration Luton’s appetite for tearing up the script.

There is no doubt that the Premier League newcomers are the big favourites to make an immediate return to the second-tier come next May, with their 4/11 odds shorter than those for any of the other 19 clubs.

And I’m sure that the majority of us would also agree that the Hammers are more than capable of enjoying a far more fruitful domestic campaign than that of 2022/23, where they flirted with relegation from almost the first whistle to the last.

Yet despite that, who’s to say that Rob Edwards cannot mastermind yet another exhilarating chapter within this quite enthralling Luton Town fairy tale by gazumping the Europa Conference League winner’s to yet another higher-placed league finish?
 

Last four top-flight seasons together:

It’s not too long ago that Luton were odds-on to be heading through the Championship trap-door, let alone be priced up at 9/1 to finish in a higher Premier League position than David Moyes’ men.

But after struggling to find any style or substance under former boss Graeme Jones, Nathan Jones’ second coming instilled fight, heart and belief back into the side as he and his rejuvenated group somehow fought off the threat of what appeared to be a certain relegation in 2020.

The Welshman famously vowed that the club would never succumb to another Championship dogfight under his watch – and, my word, he stuck to his guns!

Shrewd work in the subsequent transfer windows helped catapult the Bedfordshire side from the depths of near despair to within a whisker of the unlikeliest of promotions within just two years.

Whilst they ultimately fell just short in the playoffs, the Hatters were clearly back on an upward trajectory, although many thought that their big opportunity had come and gone when Jones opted to jump ship to Southampton after being presented with the Premier League opportunity he craved midway through last season.

His spell on the south coast ultimately proved ill-fated, whereas his predecessor Edwards continued to help keep the Town flag flying high as they went from strength to strength, eventually securing themselves a return to English football’s top table on that historic May day at Wembley.

They were 7/1 to win promotion at the start of last season, and even drifted out to 12/1 after winning just two of their opening nine Championship fixtures, so don’t be writing them off too early as they strive to flex their muscle back in the top-flight.
 

Luton Town to finish higher than:

Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.

Mark Mothershaw

• Luton Town F.C.
• • 
  •