Chelsea v Luton predictions, betting odds and bet builder tips

Where to watch Chelsea v Luton

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 8pm Friday

Best bet

Chelsea to win and over 2.5 goals
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Chelsea v Luton odds

Chelsea 2-9
Luton 12-1
Draw 6-1

Odds correct at time of publishing

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Chelsea v Luton team news

Chelsea
Carney Chukwuemeka was injured in Sunday's 3-1 loss at West Ham and Mykhailo Mudryk has suffered a minor training ground injury. The pair are sidelined alongside Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana, Armando Broja, Reece James, Trevor Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile and Marcus Bettinelli.

Luton
The Hatters will be missing Reece Burke, Gabriel Osho, Dan Potts and Jordan Clark.

Chelsea v Luton predictions

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino called for calm after the Blues lost 3-1 at West Ham last Sunday and his players are likely to respond with a convincing success over promoted Luton at Stamford Bridge.

Early pressure on Pochettino is understandable because of Chelsea's exorbitant spending.

The Blues continued their shopping spree last week with big-money deals for midfielders Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, taking their reported transfer outlay under Todd Boehly past the £950 million mark.

Plenty of cash has been recouped by outgoing transfers but the club are clearly investing heavily in pursuit of success and it is Pochettino's task to deliver the results.

Chelsea's problems on the pitch go back a long time. The Blues finished last season with a whimper, winning just one of their final 12 Premier League games, and their final 44-point tally was their lowest in Premier League history.

However, after assembling a new-look squad there is an understandable desire to look forward and there have been positives to take over the last two weeks.

Pochettino's side did most of the attacking in the 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool and they played a decent first half at West Ham despite reaching the break with the scores level.

Chelsea's underlying fragility reared its head in a poor second-half performance against the Hammers but the Luton game offers an opportunity to restore confidence.

The Hatters are back in the top flight for the first time since 1992 and they were given a harsh first lesson when losing 4-1 at Brighton.

Luton manager Rob Edwards has had the best part of two weeks to iron out some of the mistakes seen at the Amex Stadium but the odds are stacked against his players, who may simply lack the quality to give Chelsea a serious test.

Edwards has completed the free transfer acquisition of former Chelsea player Ross Barkley, who brings with him a wealth of top-flight experience, but the bulk of Luton's squad have had little or no exposure to Premier League football and the Bedfordshire side just 4-11 to be relegated and 6-4 to finish bottom of the pile.

Luton's best hope of upsetting the odds is to play to their strengths by involving physical centre-forwards Elijah Adebayo and Carlton Morris as often as possible.

The pair featured prominently against Brighton and their aerial power could cause a few issues for Chelsea, who struggled against direct tactics last weekend.

Luton's vocal away fans may get to celebrate another goal, but their team could be generally outclassed by the Blues, who should rack up a first league win.

Key stat

Five of Chelsea's last eight games have featured at least four goals

Probable teams

Chelsea (3-4-3): Sanchez; Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Gusto, Caicedo, Fernandez, Chilwell; Sterling, Jackson, Madueke.
Subs: Bergstrom, Burstow, Cucurella, Lavia, Santos, Humphreys, Gallagher, Maatsen, Ugochukwu.

Luton (5-3-2): Kaminski; Kabore, Anderson, Lockyer, Bell, Giles; Nakamba, Mpanzu, Chong; Adebayo, Morris.
Subs: Krul, McAtee, Campbell, Doughty, Ogbene, Berry, Brown, Woodrow, Barkley.

Inside info

Chelsea

Star man Thiago Silva
Top scorer Axel Disasi/Carney Chukwuemeka
Penalty taker Enzo Fernandez
Card magnet Moises Caicedo
Assist ace Raheem Sterling
Set-piece aerial threat Thiago Silva

Luton

Star man Carlton Morris
Top scorer Carlton Morris
Penalty taker Carlton Morris
Card magnet Carlton Morris
Assist ace Ryan Giles
Set-piece aerial threat Carlton Morris

Chelsea v Luton bet builder predictions

Chelsea to win
Chelsea have plenty of scope to improve and they should be too strong for Luton, who suffered a dispiriting 4-1 loss at Brighton in their opening game.

Over 3.5 goals
Five of Chelsea's last eight matches have generated at least four goals and the high-scoring trend could continue.

Raheem Sterling to score the first goal
Raheem Sterling was one of the few Chelsea players to impress in the 3-1 loss at West Ham and he has every chance of scoring the opener against Luton.

Pays out over 12-1 with Paddy Power

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