Luton continue their fight for Premier League survival against Chelsea at Kenilworth Road.
Victory would see Luton move up to 15th in the table ahead of the mid-afternoon kick-offs, whilst Chelsea can stay 10th with a win.
Team News
Jordan Clark could return for Luton after he missed their midweek win at Sheffield United due to illness.
Tom Lockyer (illness), Issa Kabore (muscle), Dan Potts (hamstring), Reece Burke (thigh) and Marvelous Nakamba (knee) remain ruled out.
Chelsea could welcome Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling back from their one-match bans, which saw the pair sit out the Blues’ win over Crystal Palace in midweek.
Romeo Lavia is a doubt after he suffered a knock against Palace.
Marc Cucurella (ankle), Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Reece James (all hamstring), Wesley Fofana (ACL), Enzo Fernandez (hernia), Robert Sanchez and Carney Chukwuemeka (both knee) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Luton host Chelsea in a 12:30pm GMT kick-off at Kenilworth Road on Saturday 30 December, live on TNT Sport 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Luton lost 3-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their only previous Premier League meeting.
- Chelsea have won one of their last 13 top-flight visits to Luton (W1, D5, L7).
- Luton have won four of their last five top-flight home matches against Chelsea without conceding, except for a 3-0 loss in December 1989 which coincidentally fell on 30 December.
- Out of the current bottom three clubs coming into this matchweek, no player has made more interceptions than Luton’s Teden Mengi (31).
- Sterling has created more crosses than any other Chelsea player in the first half of this season, having produced 48 crosss in 18 league appearances.
Prediction
Currently on a roll with back-to-back victories and just one point from safety, Luton certainly will relish this fixture if they can play as well as they’ve done in their last two games – although they can’t be as defensively sloppy as they were at Sheffield Utd to concede the lead.
Chelsea meanwhile have lost their last four away matches which is a marked contrast to their home form that Luton will be wary of, although the Blues’ biggest issue on the road has been converting their chances into goals and beating Thomas Kaminski will be no easy task.
In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Luton go on the defensive and try to hit Chelsea on the counter-attack in what could be a tough battle, but the Blues have Palmer and Sterling back who might just be the difference if can deliver a clinical end product.
Prediction: Luton 1-2 Chelsea
Result: Luton 2-3 Chelsea
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