Watford head to Kenilworth Road tomorrow with just four wins at the home of their arch rivals in the last 40 years.

For much of those four decades, the difference in divisions of the two sides means they have only had limited opportunities to face each other.

However, since the start of 1984, the Hornets have travelled to Luton 18 times and claimed four victories.

Two of those have come in the last four visits – most recently a 2-1 win under Aidy Boothroyd on January 2, 2006, when Darius Henderson and Malky Mackay scored the goals.

Prior to that, there was the unforgettable 4-0 romp on October 4, 1997, when Graham Taylor’s side swept the Hatters away with all the goals coming in the first half – two from Peter Kennedy and one each from Dai Thomas and Richard Johnson.

The two most recent visits have ended in defeat. Two seasons ago, Luton were by far the better side as they beat Chris Wilder’s Watford 2-0, and the Hatters recorded a 1-0 win in an empty Kenilworth Road during the Covid-hit 20/21 season.

The two sides have played each other 80 times in the Football League, and Watford have won eight of the 40 away games. Luton have won 23 and the other nine were drawn.

Both teams have failed to score in 22 of those 80 games, and Watford have drawn a blank on four of their last six visits to Kenilworth Road.

There have been six 0-0 draws, the most recent being at Luton on January 27, 1997.

In those 80 league encounters, Watford have fielded 307 different players in total, with the top appearance makers being Arthur Woodward (17) and Wilf Rostron (16).

Gary Porter, Luther Blissett and Kenny Jackett all made 12 appearances.

Billy Lane, with six, is Watford’s top scorer against the Hatters, while in more recent times Luther Blissett (5) and Nigel Callaghan (4) have fared well in front of goal.

Frank Smith is Watford’s most successful player against Luton with nine wins, while John Barnes and Rostron both won five games.

Only 17 managers have ever been in charge of League matches against Luton with Graham Taylor (19) managing the most.

In the Pozzo era, no manager has been in charge of more than one League game with Luton (Chris Wilder, Slaven Bilić, Vladimir Ivić, Xisco Muñoz).

Younger Watford fans have been spoilt as the largest wins for the Hornets are the two 4-0 successes at Vicarage Road in October 2022, and at Kenilworth Road in October 1997.

Luton have beaten Watford by five goals, but it's unlikely anyone will remember it, as it happened in January 1926.

Of the current Watford squad, Tom Ince is the only one to have played for Luton: he made seven appearances at the start of 2021 on loan from Stoke City.

Players playing for both Watford and Luton are far from uncommon – there have been more than 60 in all, and 29 since the end of World War II.

Among the more significant are Alec Chamberlain, who was in goal for the 4-0 win in 1997 and later helped the Hornets reach the Premier League for the first time, and Sean Dyche, who went on to manage Watford as well.

Additional stats from Jon Sinclair's WFC database at https://wfc.net/Database