Chelsea and Luton Town have been playing one another on and off for almost 100 years, with the first match taking place back in January 1927. Football FanCast has everything you need to know about this fixture before the Blues host the Hatters tonight in what will be the first time the two sides clash in the Premier League.
While it's still far too early to make any wild assumptions about form going into this weekend's round of fixtures, things are looking much less rosy in West London compared to this time last week. Chelsea followed up their brilliant opening day performance against Liverpool with a tepid 3-1 defeat to West Ham United, a game that saw record-breaking Moises Caicedo concede a penalty on debut.
Things don't look much better for Luton, either. In their first-ever Premier League game, the Hatters fell to a 4-1 away defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. That said, there were glimpses of quality from the league's new boys, but not enough to salvage anything from the match. Their second game – a home tie against Burnley – had to be postponed as Kenilworth Road still requires work to reach League standards.
Chelsea vs Luton Town: After previous matches, what's their head-to-head record?
Chelsea and Luton have met 44 times in all competitions since that first meeting almost a century ago, and unsurprisingly, the Blues have come out on top more often than not. Although, it's closer than most might assume, due in part to many of their clashes coming well before Chelsea's takeover in 2004.
In all, the West Londoners have won almost half of their encounters with the Hatters, while Luton have only just edged out the number of draws.
Chelsea wins: 19 Draws: 12 Luton Town wins: 13 Chelsea vs Luton Town: What's their record at Stamford Bridge?
When it comes to games in the West End, it's clearly advantage Chelsea. The Blues have hosted Luton 22 times at the Bridge and come out as victors over half the time, with 12 wins under their belt.
On the other hand, Luton have quite the miserable record away from home, having won just four times when making the trip to Chelsea, coming away with a single point six times.
Chelsea wins: 12 Draws: 6 Luton Town wins: 4 Chelsea vs Luton Town: What's their record at Kenilworth Road?
Home advantage evidently means something to Luton. In their 21 home matches against Chelsea, the Hatters have come out as victors in almost half of them, while the West Londoners have only managed to win as many games as they have drawn when journeying to Bedfordshire.
With the Premier League full of modern, spacious and state-of-the-art stadia, can Luton utilise Kenilworth Road's old-school and claustrophobic nature to get something out of the reverse fixture later in the season?
Chelsea wins: 6 Draws: 6 Luton Town wins: 9 Chelsea vs Luton Town: What's their record at neutral grounds?
Chelsea and Luton have only met once at a neutral ground, with the majority of their clashes coming in either the league or early rounds of the FA Cup, but this wasn't the case in April 1994 when the pair met at the Old Wembley for an FA Cup Semi-Final.
The Blues were hoping to reach a first FA Cup final since they had last won the competition in 1970. For Luton, it was the opportunity to make a second cup final appearance since their defeat in the 1959 final at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Ultimately, the West Londoners won out in the end thanks to a brace from Gavin Peacock that saw him score in both halves to deny Luton Town.
Chelsea wins: 1 Draws: 0 Luton Town wins: 0 Chelsea vs Luton Town: What's their First Division record?
With the Premier League coming into being at the start of the 1992/93 season, Luton Town have actually never played in the competition, having been relegated from the old First Division in the 1991/92 season.
That said, the two clubs have faced off against one another plenty of times in England's top flight over the years, and whilst Chelsea have been the more dominant side overall, the Hatters have given a good account of themselves.
Chelsea have won just under half of the side's clashes in the First Division, with Luton picking up a win in less than a third of their games.
Chelsea wins: 12 Draws: 7 Luton Town wins: 7 Chelsea vs Luton Town: What's their Second Division record?
While the sides have played one another 26 times in England's top flight since 1927, they have also clashed 12 times in the country's second tier, with the most recent example of this coming in May 1982, with Luton winning 2-1.
In fact, the Hatters were the more dominant side when it came to playing in the second tier. In their 12 matches, the Bedfordshire side won five times, while Chelsea only won on three occasions, with the other four games ending in a tie.
Chelsea wins: 3 Draws: 4 Luton Town wins: 5 Chelsea vs Luton Town: Which team has the most goals?
With the fixture generally going the way of Chelsea more often than not, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to hear that they have also outscored their new Premier League rivals over their shared history.
In all competitions, the Pensioners have found the back of the net 73 times when playing against the Hatters. On the other hand, Luton have only been able to respond with 57 goals of their own. That said, there isn't a huge disparity there, and again shows that whilst Chelsea have had the edge in this fixture, it hasn't been totally one-sided throughout.
Chelsea goals: 73 Luton Town goals: 57 Chelsea vs Luton Town: What is Luton Town's biggest win?
Despite losing more games against Chelsea than they have won, Luton have enjoyed some significant wins over their West London opponents over the years, with the biggest coming in December 1976, when the Hatters put four past them to no reply in the old Second Division.
It was a bitterly cold winter's day with snow completely covering the pitch, but with 17,000 fans in the stands, the game kicked off. Lil Fuccillo – now chief scout of Crawley Town – opened the scoring for Luton, with Brian Chambers adding another before 12 minutes had even been played.
Another one from Jimmy Husband and a penalty from Steve Buckley gave the home side the victory.
Chelsea vs Luton Town: What is Chelsea's biggest win?
When it comes to Chelsea's biggest victory over their Bedfordshire opponents, two games share that accolade, and both are again 4-0 scorelines. The first instance came in the very first meeting between the two teams in the 1927 edition of the FA Cup.
The match was held at Stamford Bridge, and as the scoreline suggests, it was a totally one-sided affair. It was 27 year old forward Albert Thain who opened the scoring for the hosts before grabbing another not long after that. It was then the turn of 32 year old Robert Hamilton Turnbull to grab a brace of his own to take the game away from Luton entirely.
The same scoreline would once again emerge from the team's clash at Kenilworth Road exactly 30 years later, in what was the old First Division at the time. Once again, two braces won Chelsea the game, this time with Jim Lewis grabbing two before Ron Tindall did the same.
Chelsea vs Luton Town: What are the recent results?
Across the last five fixtures, it has been pretty much all Chelsea. The most recent match – an FA Cup tie in March 2022 – ended 3-2 to the visiting Blues, thanks to goals from Saul Niguez, Timo Werner, and Romelu Lukaku, all players that have either left the Bridge or have been frozen out.
The game before that – in January 2021 – was another FA Cup match in which the Pensioners emerged as the victors thanks to a hattrick from Cobham graduate Tammy Abraham. However, the three games prior to that one all took place in the early 1990s, and so there isn't a lot we can go off to predict how the two teams will fair this weekend.
Chelsea vs Luton Town: When is it?
Chelsea host the Premier League debutantes tonight, Friday 25th August at 8pm British Summer Time, and while it isn't one of the league's most illustrious fixtures, it could well be a cracker.
Both sides have an enormous amount to play for this year, and with Chelsea's miserable showing against West Ham last week, the Hatters might be able to spring an upset and put more pressure on Mauricio Pochettino before his tenure truly gets underway.
There is also the chance that the Argentine could give new £115m man Caicedo his full debut on Friday night, and after his personal contribution to the defeat against the Irons, he'll want to lay down a marker as well.
Rob Edwards will also have a new signing of his own, as Ross Barkley could be given his debut against his former club, having joined the side on a one-year deal just a couple of weeks ago.
