Chelsea v Luton | Match Preview, Odds and Prediction
Chelsea welcome newly-promoted Luton Town to Stamford Bridge on Friday evening and are big favourites to pick up all three points despite their poor start to the season. The Blues are coming off the back of a disappointing campaign and hoped to start strongly under Mauricio Pochettino, but they’re still without a win after their first two games.
Luton lost their opening game and are hoping to finally get off the mark in their maiden top-flight season, though they’re underdogs with the bookmakers. The Hatters spent only £17m on new players who were either Premier League outcasts or promising Football League talents, so they could struggle to stay up. Luton are nevertheless 14/1 with Boyle Sports To Win.
Chelsea are on an eight-game run without victory on home soil in the league but are being tipped to finally put that to bed. The Blues are 1/4 with Bet UK To Win. It’s worth noting that Chelsea drew more home games (7) than winning (6) or losing (6) last season and played out a stalemate in their only home game this season, so Chelsea and Luton are 6/1 with Bet 365 To Draw.
Chelsea struggled to score at Stamford Bridge, averaging only 1.05 goals per home game last season, and they’ve only managed one goal in their only home match played this campaign, so Total Home Goals Under 1.5 is 5/2 with Betfred. The Blues had one of the best defensive records at home despite their toils at the other end of the pitch, conceding 1.0 goals per game on the road. Total Away Goals Under 1.5 is 2/15 with Matchbook.
Luton won promotion from the Championship via the playoffs last season but weren’t overly prolific with 57 goals from 46 games. They were only 10th for goals scored on the road in 2022/23 (26), so Chelsea might fancy their chances of getting a clean sheet. Chelsea are 1/1 with Betfair to Win To Nil while Both Teams Not To Score is 8/11 with 888 Sport.
Luton had a good defensive record away, conceding 18 goals from 23 games, so Friday’s clash might not be a high-scoring affair. Total Goals Under 2.5 is 31/20 with Unibet. If Luton do score, it’s likely to be Carlton Morris who bags. The 27-year-old, who scored 20 times last season and has scored their only league goal this campaign, is 15/1 with Sporting Index to be First Goalscorer and 5/1 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime. Elijah Adebayo, who was second with 13 goals and assists, is 18/1 with SkyBet to be First Goalscorer and 11/2 with QuinnBet to Score Anytime.
Nicolas Jackson, who joined Chelsea over the summer and scored 12 goals with four assists from 26 La Liga games last season, is 7/2 with Bet 365 to be First Goalscorer and 21/20 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime. Raheem Sterling, who had a hand in 13 goals from 38 games across the board last season, is 5/1 with Boyle Sports to be First Goalscorer and 6/4 with Unibet to Score Anytime.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-0 Luton
