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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 3
Chelsea v Luton Town
Stamford Bridge
London, England
Friday, 25 August 2023
Kick-off is at 21h00
Chelsea will be expected to pick up their first win of the
Premier League season under Mauricio Pochettino when newly-promoted Luton visit Stamford Bridge on Friday, August 25.
The Blues began the Pochettino era with a 1-1 home draw against Liverpool on the opening weekend before slumping to a 3-1 defeat at West Ham seven days later.
Those results see the West Londoners occupying 15th place, one point ahead of the Hatters, who started life back in the top flight with a 4-1 loss to high-flying Brighton on the south coast.
Alamy Stock Photo
Rob Edwards' side didn't play on matchday 2 as Kenilworth Road wasn't ready to host Premier League football, with the stadium still undergoing renovations which led to their match against Burnley being postponed.
This will be the first meeting between the two clubs in the top tier of English football, although they faced off in the FA Cup as recently as 2021 and 2022.
Moises Caicedo made his Chelsea bow against the Hammers after completing his move from Brighton for a British transfer record on August 14 and he had a debut to forget, conceding a 95th-minute penalty which was converted by Lucas Paqueta. The 21-year-old defensive midfielder will be under spotlight in the weeks to come after costing the Blues an exorbitant fee.
Alamy Stock Photo
Luton will be pinning their hopes on Carlton Morris, who helped them gain promotion via the Championship playoffs after scoring 20 goals last season to finish third in the top scorers' charts. The 27-year-old striker got off the mark in the Premier League when he tucked home a penalty in the 81st minute against the Seagulls.
Pochettino isn't too concerned about his team's slow start to the season as he believes they have shown enough quality to suggest results will soon come.
"It's a concern that the results haven't followed the performance, but if we played bad but won the games I think we should be more worried because then it's only time until you start to lose games and then you need to find a way to perform," he said.
"I prefer to start in this way, showing good performance, good attitude, because we dominated Liverpool and West Ham. I think the attitude is there, to get in the final third 50 times today shows the attitude is good and against Liverpool it was the same.
"That is the base for the future, with the quality we have in the squad it is only time until we start to find the best balance and we start to score goals and win games."
Luton assistant manager Paul Trollope insists their ambitions won't change now that they're back in the Premier League and feels it'll be important not to show the opposition any fear no matter who they are.
"When we first came in we said about being ambitious and taking the club forward, and we are no different in the Premier League. We respect people, but we certainly don't fear," Trollope said.
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 0
Chelsea - 0
Luton - 0
Draws - 0
Matchday 3 fixtures:
Friday, August 25
21h00: Chelsea v Luton Town
Saturday, August 26
13h30: Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur
16h00: Arsenal v Fulham
16h00: Brentford v Crystal Palace
16h00: Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers
16h00: Manchester United v Nottingham Forest
18h30: Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United
Sunday, August 27
15h00: Burnley v Aston Villa
15h00: Sheffield United v Manchester City
17h30: Newcastle United v Liverpool
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