With no European football on the menu this season, we get the consolation prize of one extra game in the League Cup, having to contest the competition’s second round already, as opposed to our usual entry in the next round.
Thankfully, this extra game is at home and it’s against lower league opposition. One would surely hope that any reasonable lineup that Xabi Alonso could trot out for this one would be good enough to get the job done against third-division opposition. You’d hope! (We have won 19
in a row against lower-league opposition in this competition.)
Leeds United await the winners in the third round. Let’s not keep them waiting for much longer.
Date / Time: Thursday, August 27, 2026, 19:30 BST; 2:30pm EDT; 12am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Elliot Bell; no VAR
Forecast: chance of “thundery showers”
On TV: Sky Sports Football (UK); none (USA); none (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); Paramount+ (USA); FanCode (India); StarTimes (NGA)
Chelsea team news: With three games in the first seven days of the new campaign, this match is a tailor-made opportunity to give all the backups some proper minutes early on as well. Presumably, all the starters from Monday night will take a seat on (or behind) the bench, and we’ll get everyone else in. We took two whole squad’s worth of players on the preseason tour, so everyone should be ready to play.
The only ones unavailable should be those with transfers in progress or imminent, such as Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap. Xabi Alonso has insisted that Enzo Fernández will be available, though we’ll see about that. Others, like Mykhailo Mudryk or Dário Essugo could follow suit.
Marco Palestra and Moisés Caicedo remain out with minor-ish concerns: Caicedo could be back for the game on Sunday; Palestra sounds like is a bit further out. There was some conflicting information about Wesley Fofana’s availability, but it seems like he will be serving the second game of his two-match ban in this game after all (rather than on the weekend), so he’s also unavailable. In better news, Danny Welbeck and Emmanuel Emegha could be ready to play some part following their brief absences.
Luton Town team news: It was just a couple years ago that Luton Town became one of the smallest Premier League teams ever when they returned to the top division of English football after an absence of over three decades. (Their previous spell in the top flight was just before the formation of the Premier League.) Unfortunately, this brief stay was followed by back-to-back relegations, and they now find themselves in the third division for a second successive season.
After just missing out on the promotion playoffs last season, they are off to a good start in trying to better that this season, with four points from their first two games to go along with their first round win against Gillingham in this competition. New signing and former Chelsea Academy standout, Kasey Palmer is off to a great start with two goals and one assist in his first two starts for his new club.
Like Chelsea, Luton’s fixture list is jam-packed with games, and they also will have a game on Sunday to contest. But managed by former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, who never won a game at the Bridge as a player (0-for-5), Luton will be hoping to cause a massive shock.
“As players we all grow up wanting to play in the big games.If we don’t have the courage or the belief to make a difference then we’re in the wrong sport.”
-Jack Wilshere; source: Luton Town FC
The one confirmed absence for the visitors will be long-time key midfielder Jordan Clark, who broke his jaw over the weekend in the 2-2 draw against Notts County.
Previously: We won both of our meetings against Luton in 2023-24, and won the last three cup meetings as well, dating back to 1994. Matchups between these two were a lot more common back in the 50s, 70s, and 80s, with the Blues holding the edge overall 21 wins to 14, with 12 drawn.
