Key events
45 minutes Seven added minutes due to injuries. Doughty's free kick is headed back by Morris, who could have gone on goal from that position. Chong then has a shot blocked by Lenglet and calls for a handball against Moreno, but the ball bounces straight back to him, so there is nothing to do.
45 minutes Douglas Luiz is booked for a fairly light foul on Clark.
44 min: Brilliant save from Kaminski! Rogers, who has looked good since receiving a no, cuts inside Burke on the edge of the box and unleashes a curling shot that Kaminski acrobatically deflects, leaping to his left.
41 minutes Villa have been fantastic and fully deserve their 2-0 lead.
GOAL! Luton 0-2 Aston Villa (Watkins 39)
Yes, VAR has done Villa a favour: Watkins was being played by Ogbene and is now on a hat-trick.
I think Watkins agrees here. Luiz quickly launched the free kick, lifting it over the top, and Watkins controlled it on the run before beating Kaminski with a curling shot that went inside the far post.
38 minutes Burke is booked for backing up Rogers. The free kick causes a Goal disallowed for Watkinsalthough he thinks he could have been inside.
35 minutes A wrong cross from Ogbene lands on the roof of the net. I haven't watched all of Luton's games this season, but this is the dullest I've seen them.
34 min: Right outside Watkins! The villas have full control here. Rogers throws a good ball across the field to Bailey who pushes it towards the line for Watkins. He pushes the ball away from Mengi on the edge of the area and fires an angled shot wide of the far post.
32 minutes McGinn's quick cross is headed in by Lenglet, who had to jump away from goal to make contact. He was still standing after a couple of Villa corners.
29 min: Villa replacement Morgan Rogers, signed from Middlesbrough in January, replaces the injured Jacob Ramsey. He did not recover from the blow he suffered in the 14th minute, although it does not seem that serious in general terms.
29 minutes Tielemans' first ball gives Bailey the opportunity to run Ogbene. Both players go down just outside the area but there are no appeals and the referee is happy to carry on playing.
26 minutes Interestingly, that goal could do Luton some good. We know that they respond well to adversity and until now they have been seen half asleep.
Ollie Watkins scores his 20th goal of the season with an almost offensively simple objective. Bailey took the corner towards the near post, where Watkins escaped Mengi and jumped unopposed to head into the net. There was no one on the line and Kaminski had no real chance of crossing.
GOAL! Luton 0-1 Aston Villa (Watkins 24)
Well, that was easy.
23 min: Good save from Kaminski! A moment of quality from Villa. McGinn steals the ball in midfield and gives it to Bailey, who plays Watkins towards goal with an early pass. He hits a shot on the turn that deflects off Mengi's slide and is pushed by Kaminski.
22 minutes Watkins runs down the right with intention, but there is a but: his cross is too close to Kaminski.
It's been a bad game so far.
19 minutes The match is quite even territorially, but Villa is the only one who seems to have a chance to score so far. Luton seems a bit subdued, the players and the crowd.
16 minutes When the corner is finally taken, Tielemans' attacker heads wide of the goal and is deflected by Douglas Luiz. He was 10 yards away and in plenty of space, but he couldn't pass the ball to keep his header down.
14 min: Good save by Kaminski McGinn advances from midfield and sends a good pass to Ramsey on the edge of the area. He throws a curler first towards the goal and Kaminski jumps to his left to push it back.
Ramsey remained on the ground after that shot and is receiving treatment on his left foot.
12 minutes Ramsey tries to stop Barkley with a hand to the face and sends him to the mat. Just a free throw.
10 minutes It has been a pretty complicated start to the game. Villa made a couple of good moves before Bell's injury, but not much has happened since.
7 minutes In fact, Kabore has stayed at right back. Ogbene has moved to the left and Alfie Doughty plays as a third centre-back.
5 min: Luton substitution Poor Amari'i Bell is suffering from what appears to be a hamstring strain. Chiedozie Ogbene replaces him, so Kabore will move to center back.
4 minutes Douglas Luiz plays Ramsey through the inside left channel with a nice pass in the first half, but he is too far from goal and Mengi has time to pull back and make a good tackle.
Oh my god, this is not good: Amari'i Bell, who went off injured against Manchester City this week, is already done and has a “fuck my luck” look on his face.
2 minutes An early sniff for Villa. Watkins runs towards Mengi and plays in the overlapping Bailey on the right. His first cross arrives at an awkward height for Ramsey, eight yards out, and he chests the ball wide of the far post. He was trying to control the ball instead of scoring.
1 minute Peep! Luton starts from left to right as we watch.
The players gather around the central circle. for a minute's silence in honor of Chris Nicholl, who died a week ago.
Here he is scoring one of the best goals in the League Cup final.
The rest of our first division match reports
Match reports are starting to drop. Let's start with Brentford 2-2 Chelsea.
First division results
And this is the updated league standings.
Darwin Núñez scored the winning goal for Liverpool in the 99th minute at the City Ground. Wow. This is all very good for Luton. If they win today, they will be one point behind Forest and two behind Everton, with both having a game in hand.
Tomas Soucek scored a late goal for West Ham at Goodison Park, which is great news for Luton, especially as Nottm Forest and Brentford draw. It's getting very cozy down there.
Some pre-game reading
Everton's jump to the top of the table after having had four points returned by the Premier League has added an extra layer to the farce that the relegation battle could become. Luton have moved from one point to four off the last safe spot as legal minds decide the correct punishment for breaking Premier League rules. It must be terribly distracting for the Hatters to wonder what happens next, with Everton (again) and Nottingham Forest accused of profitability and sustainability breaches, which could lead to further deductions.
All Luton can do is focus on himself in an attempt to finish on the right side of the line. After three consecutive league defeats, it is imperative to get back on track with a positive performance ahead of a crucial month in which they face Crystal Palace and Forest.
I told you
There are just under 10 minutes left until the 3:00 p.m. games. As things stand, it's a decent day for Luton and Villa, although at least one of them – Everton, Nottm Forest or Spurs – would be expected to claim a late winner.
team news
Rob Edwards makes three changes from the Luton team that lost to Manchester City this week. Thomas Kaminski returns to goal, with Tim Krul making one; Issa Kabore is preferred to Chiedozie Ogbene at right back and Andros Townsend replaces Cauley Woodrow.
A change for Villa: Ezri Konsa Enter Pau Torres, who is only fit to occupy the bench. It makes no sense to risk it with Ajax to play on Thursday.
London (3-4-2-1) Kaminski; Burke, Mengi, Bell; Kabore, Clark, Barkley, Doughty; Townsend, Chong; Morris.
Substitutes: Shea, Krul, Hashioka, Piesold, Berry, Ruddock Mpanzu, Nelson, Ogbene, Woodrow.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Moreno; McGinn, Luis; Bailey, Tielemans, Ramsey; Watkins.
Substitutes: Olsen, Digne, Torres, Chambers, Kester-Hayden, Zaniolo, Iroegbunam, Diaby, Rogers.
Referee Miguel Oliver.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to minute-by-minute live coverage of Luton v Aston Villa on the first division. This is Luton's last chance to beat a Champions League-chasing team at Kenilworth Road. They have caused everyone problems, but only have one point to show in games against Spurs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd. They were also beaten 6-2 by City in the FA Cup that week, but that doesn't particularly suit our narrative, so we won't dwell on it.
Luton and Villa have their eyes on fourth, fourth place in Villa's case. Their need for points and the non-negotiable positivity of both teams should make for a lively evening in Bedfordshire.
Kick off 5:30 p.m.
