The fixture was moved to a less familiar Thursday slot to accommodate Monday’s trip to Fulham – a 3-2 Premier League victory for the Blues.

This first-ever League Cup meeting between the two clubs is the setting for new manager Xabi Alonso’s official debut in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful – travelling Chelsea supporters have already chanted his name at Craven Cottage.

The Blues are the capital’s most successful contestants in the tri-handled trophy with five wins, and we most recently contested the final in 2024.

Back in December, our quarter-final victory at Cardiff City made it 19 straight wins against lower-league opponents in this floodlit trophy quest. The Blues then bowed out at the semi-final stage to eventual runners-up Arsenal.

Luton’s greatest moment of giant-killing came in defeating the Gunners in the 1988 final of this competition.

They last encountered top-flight opposition in the League Cup in September 2020, losing 3-0 to Manchester United – one of eight losses in the past nine encounters with top-flight opponents in this competition.

Prior to beating Gillingham this month, the third-tier Hatters had been eliminated in round one of the Carabao Cup for three seasons in a row.

All round-two games are broadcast live on Sky Sports platforms and this one is on Sky Sports channels 401 and 402, and their app.

Team news

Wesley Fofana is suspended, while Xabi Alonso confirmed that both Moises Caicedo and Marco Palestra will miss Thursday’s Carabao Cup clash. Elsewhere, the Spaniard stated that goalkeeper Mike Penders has an opportunity to feature.

‘Let’s see, hopefully Moi could make it for the weekend, but we need to check a little bit more with Marco,' said Alonso in his pre-match press conference.

‘Otherwise everyone from Monday is okay, Cole [Palmer] is absolutely fine. Penders is part of the squad, so he has an opportunity. We will decide and then I am giving the team tomorrow to the players, so I prefer to respect that they know first.'

The history

In our history, Chelsea have exited at this stage of the competition on 13 occasions, though not since October 1995, to Stoke City over two legs.

There were some memorable round-two matches in the early years of the competition, not least 3-0 away to Birmingham City on 23 September 1966, when Jim McCalliog became one of the club’s youngest debutants on his 18th birthday.

The same month three years later, local visitors Charlton Athletic were thrashed 5-2 and the Blues also hit the bar four times.

The clash with Sheffield Wednesday in 1970 required a replay, in which Dave Sexton’s regular ploy of throwing Dave Webb up front paid off. The utility man netted the winner for 2-1.

In 1984, over two legs, John Neal’s side took what proved an unassailable 3-1 lead to Millwall’s Den, Kerry Dixon levelling in a 1-1 draw. We went on to reach the semi-finals.

A shock 1-0 first leg-loss at York City was thankfully overturned 3-0 at the Bridge in 1986. The Londoners had a reputation for embarrassing defeats by lower league sides and rarely did that jinx hurt more than a 3-1 second-leg loss at Tranmere Rovers in 1991.

A 5-4 aggregate victory over Blackpool in 1996 would prove our last round-two entry for 20 years, until a feisty Bristol Rovers outfit were edged out 3-2 on the Fulham Road, Michy Batshuayi bagging a brace.

Our most recent match at the stage came in 2023, against Wimbledon. The Wombles took the lead through a penalty but succumbed 2-1 after a spot-kick in reply from Noni Madueke and an Enzo Fernandez winner into an empty net.

Luton Town’s last win at the Bridge was through a penalty shootout in the little-regarded Zenith Data Systems Cup in February 1991.

The Hatters’ most recent Fulham Road visit was a 3-0 Premier League loss in 2023, with Raheem Sterling (twice) and Nicolas Jackson finding the net.

Know this...

Chelsea are London’s most successful club in this competition, winning it five times, including the capital’s first and most recent successes. Our ten League Cup final appearances is bettered only by Liverpool (15).

Chelsea and Luton have met 47 times previously across all competitions, the Blues winning 21 of those encounters. We have prevailed in each of the past five meetings between the two on all fronts, starting with the 1994 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Chelsea’s record victory in this competition remains the 7-0 win at Doncaster Rovers on 16 November 1960, during our maiden League Cup campaign. Our two previous second-round appearances were also at Stamford Bridge, the 3-2 win over Bristol Rovers in 2016 and the 2-1 success against Wimbledon in 2023.

Luton are playing their last few seasons at their quirky Kenilworth Road home, while a 25,000-seater stadium emerges in the town centre.

Carabao Cup regulations

Goal-line technology and VAR will not be in operation until the semi-finals, unless all host stadiums in the round are suitably equipped.

Nine substitutes can be named and five used in the game (plus a concussion replacement if required).

Yellow cards and suspensions apply only to this competition. Red card bans are served across all domestic fronts.

Players are no longer cup tied if they move from one club to another during a transfer window.

Each tie is decided on the night and extra-time is not used to decide ties until the second leg of the semi-finals. In the event of scores being level after second-half stoppage time, the outcome will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.