'There is still plenty of hope' - McNulty

Luton Town ran another of the Premier League’s elite close but could not quite recover from early self-inflicted wounds against Manchester United.

The Hatters have lost very narrowly to Arsenal and Manchester City at Kenilworth Road this season while Liverpool could only draw – evidence of the atmosphere and the effort of Rob Edwards’ team and how this unity is a galvanising force.

Once again, there was so much to admire but Luton were facing an uphill struggle from the moment Amari’I Bell gifted Rasmus Hojlund an opener after 37 seconds, the £72m Dane adding a second seven minutes later.

Carlton Morris’s 14th minute header gave them hope and Luton Town gave Manchester United some real moments of stress before going down 2-1.

There was still, however, plenty on show to give Edwards and Luton encouragement that they can still survive in the Premier League, showing great character and resilience despite those two early blows and the loss of influential Elijah Adebayo to injury in the warm-up.

Luton face another mammoth task against Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday. They will be huge underdogs for that one but there is still plenty of hope when a prognosis is given on their longer-term hopes of staying in the top flight.