Chelsea face Luton for the 46th time in all competitions, as our quick-fire trio of festive league fixtures come to a close. After this weekend, cup competitions take centre stage for the Blues.

No Premier League club has been handed as little recovery time over the festive season as Chelsea, for whom this is the third game in just seven days. The hosts, 18th in the table, have enjoyed an extra day’s rest. The Blues’ second 12.30pm kick-off this season is also our first ever visit to Kenilworth Road in this competition.

While conceding lots of chances at home, the Hatters have caused problems for Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, and recently beat Newcastle United at Kenilworth Road, before edging a five-goal Boxing Day thriller at fellow bottom-three side Sheffield United.

Recent results – not least Wednesday’s hard-won derby victory against Crystal Palace – mean the Blues are now higher on the ‘home’ Premier League table than the ‘away’ one.

After a disappointing Christmas Eve at Molineux, the Blues are aiming to arrest a run of four successive defeats on the road, the club’s worst sequence since December 2000. Reassuringly, no Premier League head coach has visited as many newly-promoted clubs without defeat as Mauricio Pochettino (20 games, including 18 wins).

This is the opening game of the second half of the season and the first chance of a league ‘double’. Prior to the Blues’ comfortable 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in August, Chelsea and Luton had last contested three points 32 years ago, during the final season before Division One became the Premier League.

Team news

A Raheem Sterling brace and Nicolas Jackson’s first goal for his new club completed a satisfying 3-0 win at home to Luton back in August. The former has contributed six goals and three assists in eight games for the Blues against promoted sides. He and Cole Palmer return from suspension, but a host of others still remain unavailable.

In the England pair’s absence on Wednesday, the Eagles’ feathers were regularly ruffled by promising combination play between Jackson, Mykhailo Mudryk and new starter Christopher Nkunku. The classy France forward, just back from a long lay-off, is unlikely to open proceedings again in Bedfordshire, but Mudryk’s third league goal could keep him in the starting frame.

Palace were still handed a lifeline, though, and Mauricio Pochettino suggested his team are being too ‘nice’, when they should fight first, then play. To that end, he hailed match-winner Noni Madueke’s assertiveness for stepping off the bench to earn and insist on the penalty, our sixth in the league, then keep cool to convert it himself for the winner (his second success from 12 yards in all competitions).

He became our third spot-kick scorer of the season and the victory was our first in the league without some involvement for another penalty taker, Enzo Fernandez. Romeo Lavia’s long-awaited midfield debut brought late impetus and urgency that helped pin Palace back. An impressively feisty cameo justified Alfie Gilchrist’s bow at the Bridge.

The team also seemed to click better going forward with a natural full-back on either flank – though both were Man of the Match Malo Gusto, who switched from right to left to nullify the dangerous Michael Olise.

The Blues will likely see a lot of the ball on Saturday and only Sheffield United concede more shots on their goal than Luton. Chelsea will have to make our chances count to take the three points, while defending set-plays better than of late and matching the Hatters’ endeavours right to the last minute.

Chelsea have won 15, drawn three and lost none of the past 18 away games against clubs who came up the previous summer, a run stretching back to 1999.

Opposition scout – Luton

Luton had lost three on the trot prior to the abandonment of their game at Bournemouth (1-1 at the time) after centre-back Tom Lockyer collapsed with a cardiac arrest. Everyone at Chelsea wishes the Luton skipper a full and speedy recovery.

The Hatters rallied for their missing talisman on Saturday against Newcastle, winning 1-0 at home thanks to a pair of Premier League veterans. Andros Townsend’s 50th career goal and first for his latest club came against the run of play. Yet, with playmaker and former Blue Ross Barkley flicking on at the near post, it showed the value of rehearsed corner routines. Two one-time Blues – Emerson Palmieri and Willian – have already netted against their former club this season.

Their battling 3-2 win at fellow strugglers Sheffield United was even more impressive for sheer perseverance. Rob Edwards’ team are adept at retrieving the ball but have a tendency to squander possession and often miss good chances they have created.

The Hatters have conceded the first goal in 12 of their 19 league games and the Magpies win is their only clean sheet at Kenilworth Road. They never give up hope, though, and 11 of their 21 goals have come in the last quarter-of-an-hour.

Head coach Rob Edwards sets up pragmatically. With the lowest share of possession in the top flight, they do not keep an especially high defensive line, rapidly retreating to protect their own box, though their offside trap has snared more than Man City’s. With sharp forwards, Chelsea will hope to exploit the hesitancy that has contributed to the third-highest concession rate in the division.

Further forward their effort and directness forces visitors to perform the unglamorous parts of the game. With tall strikers Elijah Adebayo or Carlton Morris leading the line, they deliver the second-most crosses into the box and boast the second-highest goals tally from set-plays.

Chelsea vs Luton – the history

The only professional football stadium in Bedfordshire, Kenilworth Road was once notorious as only the second in the Football League to install an artificial pitch in 1985.

When a natural surface was restored in summer 1991 – ahead of Luton’s last previous season in the top flight – it ended any idea that Chelsea had plastophobia. The Blues had lost twice, drawn once and won once on the hard, bouncy surface, but lost 2-0 on grass on 28 December 1991, left-back Tommy Boyd being sent off.

When Luton lost 4-3 to Arsenal this season it was the first time they had scored three goals in a top-flight match the 3-3 draw at Chelsea 32 years ago. The Hatters were 3-0 up inside 25 minutes, but the Blues (including debutants Frank Sinclair and Andy Myers), down to 10 men after Graeme Le Saux’s red card, battled back to share the points.

Le Saux’s last contribution had been a goal and belief surged after Graham Stuart reduced the deficit further. Dennis Wise equalised from a penalty that was initially saved.

History makers

Wednesday’s victory over Crystal Palace was Chelsea’s 12th in a row against the same opponent – and a club record in the Premier League era. Overall, the Eagles are now clear second behind West Bromwich, who we beat in 15 successive top-flight games from 1984 to 2011.

Current successive top-flight wins against the same opponent

Manchester City vs Bournemouth - 13
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace - 12
Manchester City vs Fulham - 12
Manchester City vs Watford - 12

The starting XI in midweek was also the west Londoners’ youngest ever in the competition at 23 years and 21 days – the eighth-most-youthful ever in the Premier League. The evening featured debuts 15 and 16 of the season – summer signing Romeo Lavia, then Academy defender Alfie Gilchrist – matching last season’s all-time record (outside the 29 during our first season, 1905/06).

Halfway down?

This fixture takes us into the second half of the season and it’s a concern for the health of the English football pyramid that for the first time since Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers and Crystal Palace in 1997/98, all three clubs promoted last summer could return to the Championship in May.

At the halfway stage Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United occupy the lowest three rungs in the table, though the Hatters are only a point behind Everton, having played one game fewer.

The bottom three on Christmas Day have never all managed to stay up, while history suggests only teams who have double figures in points by 25 December survive. The Hatters and Clarets both passed that threshold while the Blades are yet to reach it.