The Voice - Match preview #29: Luton Town vs Bradford City Saturday 7th February 2026 12:31pm

EFL League One Fixture #29
Saturday 7th February 2026 2026 12:31
Luton Town (7th) vs Bradford City (5th)
Kenilworth Road

Record:
Games Won: 6
Games Drawn: 6
Games Lost: 8

Last 5:
04 Oct 2008: Bradford City 1 – 1 Luton Town
24 Jan 2009: Luton Town 3 – 3 Bradford City
27 Nov 2018: Luton Town 4 – 0 Bradford City
12 Mar 2019: Bradford City 0 – 1 Luton Town
16 Aug 2025: Bradford City 2 – 1 Luton Town

Luton Town:
Luton Town have not tasted defeat at Kenilworth Road in 8 league games, and most recently sent Blackpool away empty-handed with a deserved 1-0 win. If the Hatters’ away record wasn’t so mediocre, the former Premier League outfit might be a more immediate threat to the playoff picture; but as it stands, Luton Town are a full 6 points behind Huddersfield Town in 6th, albeit with a game in hand. That’s a luxury they do not have over 5th place Bradford City, however, with the Bantams having played one game fewer than Luton, in turn.

With 4th place Stockport County having opened up a 10 point lead on Luton, it looks like Jack Wilshere’s side will struggle to compete for anything above City’s current standing – at least if their overall inconsistency continues. With current home (WWWDW) and away form (DLLLL) so diametrically opposed, there are few signs that Wilshere has found a solution to their up-and-down form, with Luton Town still having failed to record more than 2 consecutive league wins. Hardly a statistic that screams promotion…

That said, Luton’s away day woes will be of little consolation to a Bradford City side that must now travel to Kenilworth Road and overcome the odds. Gideon Kodua (9) and Jordan Clark (8) are the main goal-getters for Luton this season, with nobody else having netted more than 2 league goals. Jerry Yates had bagged 7 in total (5 cup goals), but has since joined Championship strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on loan, while Lasse Nordas had also found success in cup competition – only to similarly move on, this time to Dutch outfit Heerenveen. Shayden Morris and Nahki Wells are the only remaining players at the club to have netted at least 4 goals across all competitions.

Hardly a team bestowed with a great many goals on paper, Luton Town have found themselves in a bit of a rut of late having netted just 5 in their last 6 league games. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that period does account for 3 away day blanks, whereas Kenilworth Road has played host to all their recent goals. Chief among their successes of late have been a 2-1 home win over potential playoff rivals Stevenage, as well as fighting back from 2-0 down at home to deny second place Lincoln City with a hard-fought 2-2 draw. Former Bantam Nahki Wells was on target that day, but the 35 year old has endured a miserable season overall having netted just twice in 24 league outings. Indeed City fans might feel they avoided a rather expensive bullet there, no disrespect intended to the Bonafide Bermudan Bantams legend.

Had the former two-time £5 million man managed to recapture his former goalscoring glory, Luton Town’s season might have proven rather different, but full credit to him for racking up 5 assists, making him the joint 11th highest goal creator in the division (on a level footing with City captain Max Power). That said, I’m certain Wilshere would make a similar case as that of Graham Alexander in relation to his main forward – it isn’t all about the striker, as long as the team are scoring, and with Kodua and Clark grabbing the goals from either side of Nahki, there is a similarity to City’s set up with Kodua and Clark scoring more regularly either side of the apex forward.

The similarities between the teams don’t end there, either. Similar goal differences of +4 for Luton and +5 for City stem from goals scored/against of 38/34 for Luton and 36/31 for City. xG, too, isn’t a mile apart as a metric, with Luton sitting 4th in the table with an xG of 1.47, and City sat 8th with an xG of 1.40. Where Luton do have a significant advantage, at least according to theoretical metrics, is in the xGA column, where Luton Town have the second best expected goals against return, behind only Bolton Wanderers. Their xGA of 1.10 is considerably better than City’s 1.36, implying a better perceived defence. That this hasn’t been borne out in reality, though, provides a hint to why Luton are sat behind City at this stage of the season – they are, effectively, underperforming.

Luton Town 1 – 0 Blackpool


Huddersfield Town 1 – 0 Luton Town


Bradford City:
Bradford City defied the dismal prediction in last Saturday’s article, avoiding a shellacking at the hands of Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers, and grinding out an extremely important 1-0 win. Full credit must go to the players and coaching staff for dragging themselves out of a slump that (hopefully) culminated with a despondent 3-0 defeat at high-flying Lincoln City.

Tyreik Wright came off the bench to thump home a powerful volley on the 81st minute in an eventful and competitive game of football. There was controversy: new signing Kayden Jackson, the only January import to start the game, thought he had put City ahead with a low strike from inside the area, only for referee Craig Hicks to overturn the decision after a head-to-head with his fellow officials. Suspicious eyes were cast towards Grant McCann and his team in the away dug out, but having denied the use of an iPad (other brands are available), it remains to be seen if there’s any more to the story than some late, late input from the fourth official.

Nonetheless, the dreaded double act of Billy Sharp and Jordan Gibson elicited little success for Doncaster Rovers, much to the relief of a Valley Parade crowd all too used to seeing their defence overrun by two players who seemingly relish the occasion of playing City. Still relegation threatened, Doncaster Rovers belied their lowly position in terms of performance, yet once again came away empty-handed. While Bradford City hardly laid siege to the second-worst defence in the division, the fact that Doncaster lost while playing reasonably well will be of little comfort to a side under real threat of an immediate return to League Two.

That’s no concern for Bradford City, though, who now move on to another difficult fixture, this time Luton Town away. Luton Town head the pack chasing the League One playoffs, and City have typically found it difficult to play away at the sides currently positioned 7th-12th. Against Peterborough United, who were struggling at the wrong end of the table at the time, City managed a 1-1 draw. At Stevenage, they were similarly held 1-1. And at Mansfield Town, City collapsed to a 3-0 defeat. Not good omens ahead of a trip to Kenilworth Road, where Luton ride an 8-match unbeaten league run and are the 6th best ‘Home’ side in the division.

City do have a respectable record on the road this campaign, albeit their 11th place standing has seen them amass 17 points from 14 away games this campaign, winning 4, drawing 5 and losing 5. City have a negative goal difference of 5 away from home, and are currently enduring a two-game skid after losing at promotion rivals Huddersfield Town and Lincoln City. Still, a draw here seems well within the Bantams’ wheelhouse.

There will be plenty of eyes searching social media at 11:30 for Graham Alexander’s starting lineup announcement. With several changes having been made, defensive midfielder Lee Evans has signed on a permanent until the end of the season, and Ethan Wheatley has at last joined on loan from Manchester United. More likely to start will be Paul Mullin and Kayden Jackson, especially after Humphrys with withdrawn for Wrexham loanee Mullin just short of the hour mark. We never got to see the Mullin-Jackson combo, however, as Jackson also limped off with what looked like a tight calf – we have since been assured it’s not serious, however.

Tyreik Wright may sway Graham Alexander’s thinking after that thumping volley that sank Doncaster Rovers last weekend, and it might well be an off-colour Curtis Tilt that makes way if so, with Touray dropping to central defence, or alternatively a still fairly quiet Bobby Pointon might drop to the bench in a like-for-like change. There are options now, both in attack and defence, and for as long as that is the case, City should prove a handful for anyone. Hopefully the horror shows at Mansfield and Lincoln are behind them.

Bradford City 1 – 0 Doncaster Rovers


Lincoln City 3 – 0 Bradford City

 

Prediction:
Luton Town will now the importance of this fixture, as defeat here will put a severe dent in their playoff hopes. Luton Town must lean on their impressive recent home record, an EFL Trophy defeat to Swindon Town aside, the Hatters simply haven’t been losing at Kenilworth Road. Bradford City, by contrast, will also understand the magnitude of this fixture, especially seeing as their shaky away form has seen them drop out of the automatic promotion debate – at least for now.

Under Graham Alexander, the Bantams seem to have had long-standing issues on the road, but their capitulation in Lincoln City has to partly be blamed on a poor choice of first XI. Now with many more attacking options at his disposal, there are fewer excuses to make and fewer reasons for outright pessimism. Kayden Jackson worked hard in his City debut and indeed stuck the ball in the back of the net, and Paul Mullin looked a handful for both the opposition and the referee as he looked to cause as much of a nuisance of himself as possible. Ethan Wheatley is unlikely to start, but if he does feature, his pace and ball control could cause issues that few in the City squad outside of Pointon can create.

Nahki Wells will be one player looking to get one over on his former suitors, and the veteran forward would perhaps expect the roles to be reversed in terms of the league table at this stage. Having lost to the Bantams at Valley Parade, a turnaround is almost essential for Luton Town here.

That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, though. While I think there is a decent possibility of Luton Town squeezing out a 1-0 win, having endured a run of 3 straight 1-0 scorelines (albeit losing 2 of those and winning their home tie against Blackpool), I also suspect City’s recently reinforced forward line coupled with their near-full strength defensive options will come at a particularly good time. The Bantams might sneak it, but Luton Town are just so tough to beat on home soil that the pick will be a draw.

I will say 1-1, most likely with Luton Town taking the lead, and City managing the equaliser late(r) on. This would be a fine time for Mullin to cement his place with a goal, though it remains to be seen if Alexander trusts him to start, or sticks with Humphrys – a decision that will certainly affect fan morale, with many now feeling the Humphrys experiment in that number 9 role has run its course.

There are a great many things to see, and a lot of intrigue around who Alexander decides to play, much less where he decides to play them. But make no mistake, a point at Luton Town would be a fine result, and one I believe the club can achieve.

Final Score:
Luton Town 1 – 1 Bradford City