Luton are preparing for their first season in the Premier League and will head into plenty of matches against the big guns as huge underdogs.
There have been plenty of times down the years when the odds have been defied though, as we pick out 10 of the biggest Premier League upsets.
Liverpool 0 Barnsley 1, November 1997
Barnsley spent a solitary season in the Premier League during which they had the worst away record in the division but one of their three wins on their travels came at Anfield.
The Tykes had conceded 40 goals in their previous 14 games, including a 7-0 thrashing at Manchester United, but incredibly kept a clean sheet against a Liverpool team featuring Michael Owen, Steve McManaman and Karlheinz Riedle.
Ashley Ward scored the only goal in the 35th minute as Barnsley triumphed at Anfield for the first time in their history, while they also won on their next visit in the FA Cup in 2008.
Bradford 1 Liverpool 0, May 2000
The stakes could hardly have been higher, with Bradford needing a win to stay up in their first season in the Premier League, while Liverpool needed a victory to qualify for the Champions League.
With so much at stake, the Reds were expected to get the result they required but Paul Jewell’s Bradford took a shock lead in the 12th minute thanks to David Wetherall’s header.
Liverpool had Owen and Emile Heskey up front but could not find an equaliser and the full-time whistle was greeted by jubilant scenes at Valley Parade.
🤩 | 2️⃣0️⃣ years ago today, a sublime David Wetherall header secured our @premierleague survival – with a memorable 1-0 victory over @LFC!#BCAFC | #CityForAll pic.twitter.com/uo61Rz97KD
— Bradford City AFC (@officialbantams) May 14, 2020
Arsenal 1 Hull 2, September 2008
Daniel Cousin grabbed the winner as Hull’s first visit to the Emirates Stadium saw them collect three points in their first season in the Premier League.
It was the first meeting between the teams in almost 20 years and Phil Brown’s men joined West Ham as the only teams to have beaten Arsenal at their new ground – they had gone 17 months without a home loss – with victory also denying the Gunners a return to the top of the table.
The hosts had taken the lead through Paul McShane’s own goal but Geovanni struck a spectacular equaliser before Cousin headed home in the 66th minute.
Arsenal 2 West Brom 3, September 2010
West Brom destroyed Arsenal’s chance to close the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League with a thrilling victory at the Emirates Stadium.
Three second-half goals from Peter Odemwingie, Gonzalo Jara and former Arsenal player Jerome Thomas put newly-promoted Albion in front before Samir Nasri scored two late goals for Arsene Wenger’s side.
It was Arsenal’s first home defeat since they lost to Manchester United in January, while it was West Brom’s first away win in 19 Premier League matches.
Manchester United 2 Blackburn 3, December 2011
Blackburn gatecrashed Sir Alex Ferguson’s 70th birthday celebrations to claim a stunning win at the end of a quite amazing contest at Old Trafford.
Goals from Ayegbeni Yakubu either side of the interval put the Premier League’s bottom club into a surprise two-goal lead before United hit back through Dimitar Berbatov.
There seemed to be only one conclusion after the Bulgarian had scored twice to take his tally to five over the Christmas period, but despite piling on the pressure, it was United who were undone.
David de Gea failed to collect Morten Gamst Pedersen’s corner, allowing Grant Hanley to head home the winner 10 minutes from time, with Ferguson branding the result “a disaster”.
United went on to miss out on the title on goal difference while Blackburn were relegated, having won only one other away game all season.
Chelsea 0 QPR 1, January 2013
Chelsea’s four-match winning run in the Premier League ground to a spectacular halt as struggling west London rivals QPR claimed their first victory at Stamford Bridge for two decades.
Shaun Wright-Phillips, an early substitute for the injured Junior Hoilett, struck a brilliant 78th-minute winner against the club he left in 2008 to dent the Blues’ fading title hopes.
Wright-Phillips’ second goal of the season topped a fine performance from QPR, who had slumped to a 3-0 defeat at home to Liverpool three days earlier and were bottom of the table.
Exactly why smaller players are left outside the box for a set-piece 💥#GoalOfTheDay pic.twitter.com/vkSbETONNi
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 16, 2017
Huddersfield 2 Manchester United 1, October 2017
Huddersfield enjoyed a fairytale promotion to the Premier League under David Wagner and continued to defy the odds by staying up, with the highlight of their first season back in the top flight being a shock victory to end Manchester United’s unbeaten start to the season.
The Terriers had failed to win any of their previous six Premier League matches, scoring just one goal in the process, but struck twice in six first-half minutes through Aaron Mooy and Laurent Depoitre.
Jose Mourinho’s United had entered the weekend second in the standings but the wheels came off on a wet and windy afternoon in West Yorkshire, where Marcus Rashford pulled a goal back but Huddersfield held on for their first victory over United since 1952.
Manchester City 2 Crystal Palace 3, December 2018
Palace enjoyed two surprise wins at the Etihad Stadium in the space of four seasons but we have chosen the former for our list of biggest Premier League upsets, with City playing with 10 men for the second half in their 2-0 defeat in 2021.
In the 2018 meeting, City went ahead through Ilkay Gundogan but Jeffrey Schlupp quickly equalised before Andros Townsend scored one of the goals of the season from 30 yards.
A penalty from Luka Milivojevic sealed victory early in the second half, although Kevin De Bruyne’s cross-cum-shot gave City, who also hit the post through Leroy Sane, late hope.
Watford 3 Liverpool 0, February 2020
Liverpool’s hopes of going through the Premier League season unbeaten came to a grinding halt as they were deservedly thrashed by struggling Watford at Vicarage Road.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were on a 44-game unbeaten run and the champions-elect were aiming to match Manchester City’s run of 19 consecutive wins – only to be on the wrong end of a humbling.
Ismaila Sarr, making his first start since returning from a hamstring injury, stole the show with two goals in six minutes before he laid on the third for Hornets captain Troy Deeney, who bullied the Liverpool defence.
For a team brushing aside all-comers in the league since losing at the Etihad Stadium in January 2019, Klopp’s men were second best for almost the entire game, as Watford moved out of the bottom three on goal difference.
#OnThisDay in 2020 (sort of)!
They were unbeatable, they said…
Watford 3-0 Liverpool 😍 pic.twitter.com/1fjLdRVlrc
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) March 1, 2021
Liverpool 0 Burnley 1, January 2021
In the last of our Premier League shock results, Liverpool’s seven-hour goal drought eventually caught up with them as Burnley pulled off a surprise victory at Anfield which ended an unbeaten top-flight home record of almost four years.
Ashley Barnes’ 83rd-minute penalty – his 100th senior career club goal – inflicted the first league loss on home soil for Jurgen Klopp’s side since Crystal Palace in April 2017, after a run of 68 matches undefeated.
The defending champions were made to pay for their lack of a cutting edge – having left the out-of-form Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino on the bench for an hour – as Burnley secured only their fifth win of the season and their first at Anfield since 1974.
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