Key events
Chelsea haven’t won at Stamford Bridge in nine matches. It’s like Danny Blanchflower and Geoff Hurst never left office. Sort of. But it’s strange behaviour for the club in its all-conquering modern guise. Here’s that run, stretching back to March 18, in excruciating detail.
Chelsea 2-2 Everton
Chelsea 0-2 Aston Villa
Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
Chelsea 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Chelsea 0-2 Real Madrid
Chelsea 0-2 Brentford
Chelsea 2-2 Nottingham Forest
Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle United
Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
If it makes Chelsea fans feel any better, Luton’s winless away stretch in top-flight football is even worse. They’re winless in their last 27 (D6 L21), a run that goes all the way back to March 1991, when they saw off Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park thanks to a Derek Mountfield own goal and Mark Pembridge’s strike.
Chelsea’s new boss Mauricio Pochettino talks to Sky. “It’s a matter of time to win games … we have shown good performances but not got the results we wanted … we need to improve in many phases to be competitive … we have plenty of young players … this is why it looks like a big squad but in reality it is not big … it’s an exciting moment … for sure this team has the quality and the capacity to win games … we are so happy [with Moises Caicedo] but at the same time we need to understand he arrived at the last moment and has only trained for ten days with the team, but he is a clever player and can fit quickly … it’s better for him to start than to come from the bench … we want [Raheem Sterling] to repeat the performance he showed at West Ham and to be consistent … now he needs to start to create the links with Nicolas Jackson for goals.”
Luton boss Rob Edwards speaks to Sky Sports. “We’ve seen the ruthless nature of the league … it doesn’t get much more difficult than Brighton away … up until 85 minutes, of course they had the better of the game but we were in it, 2-1 down, and made a change to go attacking … we gifted them a third goal, so one thing: no gifts … we’ve got to close spaces quicker … our intensity was up last year in the Championship but we’ve got to go up again at this level … we’ve got to be more ruthless when we do have moments to counter … I want us to evolve and grow … we’ll play to our strengths … it suits us, being the underdogs … the crowd will be expecting a comfortable Chelsea win so we have to play on that … [Ross Barkley and Tahith Chong] give us something different … you need a little x-factor, because I know we’re not going to have the ball the whole time … this is a nice place to give [Barkley] his debut tonight.”
Chelsea make one change to the starting XI sent out for the 3-1 defeat at West Ham last weekend. The injured Carney Chukwuemeka is replaced by Moises Caicedo, who makes his full debut for the Blues. Mykhailo Mudryk misses out altogether after picking up a knock during the week.
Luton make two changes to the XI named for the 4-1 loss at Brighton on the opening weekend. Ross Barkley, formerly of Stamford Bridge, makes his Hatters debut while defender Reece Burke returns from injury. Mads Anderson and Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu make way and are benched.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Disasi, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Gusto, Caicedo, Fernandez, Chilwell, Sterling, Gallagher, Jackson.
Subs: Cucurella, Madueke, Ugochukwu, Maatsen, Burstow, Bergstrom, Humphreys, Beach, Moreira.
Luton Town: Kaminski, Burke, Lockyer, Bell, Kabore, Barkley, Nakamba, Chong, Giles, Morris, Adebayo.
Subs: Krul, Andersen, Ogbene, Berry, Woodrow, Mpanzu, Brown, Doughty, Johnson.
Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside).
The last time this fixture was played in the league, in August 1991, Vinnie Jones made his debut for Chelsea. Having signed from Sheffield United the day before, and gone on the radio to observe that his new team had plenty of players who would enjoy “a good punch-up in the tunnel”, he was welcomed enthusiastically by the Stamford Bridge faithful, and set up goals for Graeme Le Saux and Kerry Dixon in a 4-1 win. Jones even had a chance to score himself but, never prolific in front of goal, found himself “caught in 32 minds” and aimed for the corner flag instead. Phil Gray scored a consolation, Luton’s first goal of the season in their fifth match.
David Pleat’s side were always destined for relegation, though they did at least win the reverse fixture 2-0 at Kenilworth Road just after Christmas. Richard Harvey belted in a long-range free kick, then John Dreyer scored a penalty past a fuming Dave Beasant, convinced Mark Pembridge had gone over too easily to win it. And that was the last time Chelsea and Luton saw each other in top-flight football.
There have been dalliances in the FA Cup since, most notably a 1994 FA Cup semi-final in which Gavin Peacock scored twice against a Luton team now featuring the aforementioned Blues hero Dixon. And then there was this entertaining back-and-forth a couple of years ago, played out in the wake of Roman Abramovich announcing his plans to do one. So these two clubs know how to put on a show. Kick-off tonight is at 8pm BST. It’s on!