Preview: Chelsea vs Luton Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Jack Wilshere takes his Luton Town side to Stamford Bridge for an EFL Cup second-round clash against Chelsea on Thursday night.

The two teams last butted heads in December 2023 when the Blues held off a late Hatters fightback to claim a 3-2 Premier League win at Kenilworth Road.

Match preview

Xabi Alonso's reign as Chelsea manager began with a thrilling 3-2 victory against West London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday night, with the Blues registering their first win in their opening Premier League match of a new season since 2022-23.

Cole Palmer grabbed the headlines with an eye-catching display that included a goal and an assist, while Joao Pedro and club-record signing Morgan Rogers were also on the scoresheet, much to the delight of Alonso who has tipped the trio to “create special things”.

Attention now turns to the EFL Cup, a competition Chelsea have won five times but have failed to lift since 2015, most recently reaching the semi-finals of last season’s competition where they lost 4-2 to Arsenal over two legs.

Thursday’s contest represents Chelsea’s third-ever EFL Cup second-round tie in the 21st century; they prevailed in the previous two against Bristol Rovers in 2016-17 (3-2) and AFC Wimbledon in 2023-24 (2-1).

The Blues will be strong favourites to progress past Luton and should be confident of success given they have advanced from 27 of their last 28 EFL Cup ties against teams from outside the top tier, including each of the last 19 since suffering a penalty-shootout defeat to Burnley in November 2008.

After ending the 2025-26 season in positive fashion with a 12-game unbeaten run across all competitions (W9 D3), Luton have since posted two wins and one draw in their first three matches of the new season.

The Hatters produced a remarkable second-half comeback to beat Reading 4-3 on the opening weekend in League One, before settling for a 2-2 home draw with newly-promoted Notts County last Saturday, with new striker Callum Marshall scoring his first goal for the club to salvage a point.

Earlier this month, Jack Wilshere’s side avoided a second successive round one elimination from the EFL Cup, as they eased to a 3-0 away victory over Gillingham. They now head into Thursday’s clash with Chelsea having progressed from three of their last four EFL Cup second-round ties.

However, upsetting a Premier League heavyweight on their own turf is a much taller order for the Hatters. Not only have Luton lost their last five meetings with Chelsea in all tournaments, they have also failed to win any of their last six competitive visits to Stamford Bridge (D1 L5), most recently losing 3-0 in the top flight in August 2023.

In addition, Luton have been eliminated from eight of their last nine EFL Cup ties against Premier League opponents, so Wilshere is well aware that his team must deliver a flawless performance if they are to stand any chance of pulling off an upset and keep their dream alive of repeating their famous 1988 League Cup triumph.

Chelsea form (all competitions):

Luton Town EFL Cup form:

Luton Town form (all competitions):

Team News

Chelsea’s Jordan Henderson (wrist) and Emmanuel Emegha (hamstring) remain sidelined with injuries, while Moises Caicedo, Marco Palestra (both unspecified) and Aaron Anselmino (hamstring) will all be assessed after missing the win at Fulham.

Alonso is expected to ring the changes and could hand out several full debuts to players including striker Danny Welbeck, midfielder Valentin Barco, left-back Pep Chavarria and goalkeeper Mike Penders, who will hope to replace Robert Sanchez following his unconvincing display at Craven Cottage.

While Geovany Quenda, Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens and Pedro Neto will all be pushing to start in the final third, it remains unclear whether midfielder Enzo Fernandez will be considered for selection amid continuous speculation over a big-money transfer to Manchester City.

As for Luton, Jordan Clark sustained a broken jaw and was stretched off in the draw with Notts County before undergoing surgery. The midfielder will be out for ‘a number of weeks’, while Shaydon Morris is also sidelined with a ‘quite bad’ hamstring injury.

With Shandon Baptiste (knee) also injured, either Sverre Sandal or Hakeem Odoffin is likely to earn a recall and play alongside Liam Walsh and Kasey Palmer in centre-midfield.

Man City loanee Emilio Lawrence will hope to retain his starting spot in the final third, while Marshall, Gideon Kodua, Jerry Yates and Makhi Wells will all be competing for a place up front.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Penders; Acheampong, Lacroix, Fofana; Palestra, Lavia, Barco, Chavarria; Neto, Estevao; Welbeck

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Shea; Ashby, Anderson, Johnston, Naismith; Walsh, Odoffin, Palmer; Jones, Marshall, Lawrence

We say: Chelsea 3-1 Luton Town

While Luton have already scored nine goals across their opening three games this season and will back themselves to make the net ripple against a vulnerable-looking Chelsea backline, the hosts should possess more than enough firepower to safely secure their passage into the next round.

Even if Alonso opts to make sweeping changes to his starting lineup, the fringe players and attacking depth at the Spaniard's disposal should ultimately shine through to outscore their lower-league opponents.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.