Premier League action returns this weekend, with Chelsea and Luton Town kicking off Round Three games at Stamford Bridge on Friday night.
Chelsea’s 2023/24 Premier League season has started in the worst possible way after two winless outings (D1, L1) against Liverpool and West Ham. So they will be desperate to get their first win of the season in front of a packed Stamford Bridge when Luton Town come visiting.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be desperate to avoid getting trashed again after experiencing a rude welcome in their first game of the season against Brighton.
But can the PL newbies get a good result at Stamford Bridge, or will Chelsea finally kick into the right gear under Mauricio Pochettino?
We look at the stats and team news.
Pre-match Stats
- Chelsea have won just five of their last 31 Premier League games (D11, L15).
- Only the three relegated sides and Everton had a lower win rate as pre-match PL favourites than Chelsea’s 38% last season (W11, D9, L9).
- The hosts have failed to win any of their last eight home matches
- Chelsea have conceded the opening goal in their last six Premier League games. If they concede first in this match, it will be a new club record in the PL.
- Mauricio Pochettino has won 85% of his previous Premier League games in charge against promoted sides (W34 D4 L2) – that’s the joint-best win rate of any manager with 10+ such games.
- Luton last won a league game at Stamford Bridge in September 1986.
- The visitors conceded six goals across the only two H2Hs in this century, both of which came in the FA Cup in 2021.
- They have three clean sheets from their last ten competitive games.
Match Preview
Despite heavy spending of over £300 million, Chelsea’s season has not begun any different from how the last ended. The Blues opened their season with a 1-1 draw with Liverpool before falling to an embarrassing 3-1 loss to ten-men West Ham last time.
Neyef Aguerd opened the scoring for David Moyes’ side in the first half before Chelsea levelled through a fine goal from Carney Chukwuemeka. But things went sour for Pochettino’s side in the second half, with Enzo Fernandez missing a crucial penalty before Mikhail Antonio sent West Ham ahead.
Moises Caicedo, who joined the club for a British transfer record, came in for his debut and conceded a penalty, which Lucas Paqueta despatched to send the Hammers 3-1 up on the night.
The loss against West Ham means that Pochettino’s side now have just five wins in 31 Premier League (PL) games (D11, L15). They would hope for a batter return in this game against a Luton side that appears unprepared for the Premier League.
Rob Edwards’ side did not play over the weekend, with their game against Burnley postponed due to ongoing work to bring Kenilworth Road up to PL standard.
But the newly promoted visitors have already felt the Premier League’s chastening after their baptism of fire in their 4-1 opening-day defeat to Brighton.
Although there is no shame in being humbled by Roberto di Zerbi’s exciting Seagulls, there is a real worry that the Hatters could be blown away by most teams this season, especially with most of their summer signings joining from the EFL.
They are already the favourites to drop this season. So it will take a huge miracle for them to finish above the bottom three. Their target for this game will be to tighten it up at the back after conceding six goals across the only two head-to-head meetings in this century, both of which came in the FA Cup in 2021.
But for Chelsea, there is no guarantee they will get the better of the newly promoted Luton Town after failing to win four of their six games against league newbies last term (W2, D3, L1).
Team News
Mauricio Pochettino has a lot of injured players, with at least eight first-team names missing in action. Carney Chukwuemeka, who scored Chelsea’s only goal against West Ham on Sunday, joined Reece James (hamstring), Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring), Christopher Nkunku (knee injury), Wesley Fofana (ACL injury), Benoît Badiashile (groin injury), Marcus Bettinelli and Armando Brojaon (knee) the treatment table.
Luton will be without Dan Potts (knock) and Jordan Clark (ankle injury), while Gabriel Osho and Reece Burke could be unavailable due to minor injuries.
Predicted lineups
Predicted Chelsea Lineup: Robert Sanchez, Malo Gusto, Thiago Silva, Levi Colwill, Ben Chilwell, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Raheem Sterling, Conor Gallagher, Ian Maatsen, Nicolas Jackson.
Predicted Luton Town Lineup: Thomas Kaminski, Mads Juel Andersen, Tom Lockyer, Amari’i Bell, Issa Kabore, Tahith Chong, Marvelous Nakamba, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Ryan Giles, Elijah Adebayo, Carlton Morris.
