A.F.C Bournemouth will look to earn only their second win in five league games in all competitions when they play host to Luton Town on Saturday.
Despite undergoing a little bit of bad form, Jason Tindall's side sit in the automatic promotion spots but fourth-placed Brentford does have a game in hand on them.
The Cherries last experienced a victory in their first fixture of the new year after beating Stoke City 1-0 at the Bet365 Stadium, but within the last four games, they have lost on the road to Brentford and dropped points in midweek against Milwall and against their opponents this weekend Luton.
On the other hand, the Hatters who would have been expected at the start of the season to be involved in a relegation battle have in fact been one of the surprise packages of the season so far as they are placed in 14th position - 11 points adrift of the drop zone.
The reappointment of Nathan Jones back in May 2020 has really turned Luton's fortunes around as before his arrival they were sat firmly in the relegation places- six points from safety.
However, since coming in Jones guided his side to survival last season and now he is helping them to sit comfortably in midtable as in the 32 games that he has managed in his second spell at the club, he has managed to earn an impressive 45 points.
Team News
For the hosts, Junior Stanislas will be unavailable for selection after suffering an ankle injury last time out against Milwall which will keep him out of action for around a month.
Therefore there could be a rare start for Premier League transfer target Joshua King or for Atletico Madrid loanee Rodrigo Riquelme.
Jack Stacey could further return to the starting eleven after coming back from a seven-week injury against Oldham despite being left on the bench in the week.
Meanwhile, for Luton following Rhys Norrington-Davies's move to Stoke City, it means that Dan Potts will most likely start the game as left-back.
Other than that the visitors have a fully fit squad to pick from but over the coming weeks while the transfer window is open, Jones may think about bringing in some new recruits.
He may particularly focus on bringing in a replacement for Norrington Davies and he may also consider strengthening the frontline because other than James Collins (who hasn't netted for five-weeks), none of the club's other forwards have scored over one league goal.
Predicted lineups
Bournemouth: Begovic; Cook, Simpson, Kelly; Stacey, Lerma, Cook, Smith; Brooks, Solanke, King
Luton Town: Sluga; Bree, Lockyer, Bradley, Potts; Rea; Cornick, Dewsbury-Hall, Mpanzu, LuaLua; Collins
Ones to watch
Dominic Solanke - Bournemouth
For the Cherries, former Liverpool forward Dominic Solanke has been in fine form after netting ten goals in the Championship so far this season.
The 23-year-old has been in particular good goalscoring form of late after scoring four times in the last six games with him having a notably impressive personal display in the 5-0 home demolition over Huddersfield Town as he scored a brace and claimed himself an assist.
Due to these impressive stats, it means that the young striker is someone Luton will have to wary of and the way in which to prevent him from causing too many problems is for them to ensure that he is not able to be slipped in behind the Hatters backline.
This is because when given time and space inside the penalty area, his deadly eye for goals will always provide a cause for concern for Jones' side.
Kiernan Dewsbury Hall - Luton Town
On the other hand for Luton Leicester City loanee Kiernan Dewsbury Hall has been an impressive force in midfield since making his debut towards the end of October.
The midfielder has shown to be a calm head and a composed member of the Hatters midfield shown by his impressive 77.6% pass percentage.
In his 14 games for the club so far, the 22-year-old has further contributed well to Luton's attacking phase of play as he has netted once for the club which came in a home win over Bristol City and he has also grabbed himself three assists.
Previous meetings
The last time the two sides faced off ith one another was less than a month ago when the game ended goalless at Kenilworth Road.
This encounter was actually the first time had played each other in the league since 2009, and this draw extended Bournemouth's unbeaten run against the Hatters to five games.
The last time Luton earned three points against Bournemouth was back in 2005 when a late Enoch Showunmi goal was enough to secure a win on the road.
Despite being on an unbeaten run against this weekend opponents, the Cherries have failed to beat Luton in the last three league encounters against them.
Their last win against Jones' side in fact came a little under 13 years ago when a double by Jo Kuffour and first-half strikes by Sam Vokes and Max Gradel guided Bournemouth to a 4-1 away victory.
Where to watch on TV
This Championship encounter taking place at the Vitality Stadium is being played behind closed doors at 3PM, but it is being streamed live on iFollow.