When Chelsea host Luton Town, it will mark the convergence of two opposites.
At one end of the scale are the highest spenders, the powder keg of a club that demands success year after year, the chalice forever poisoned by the tyranny of ambition.
On the other side are the latest bold new arrivals from the Premier League, the upward climbers in a permanent dream state, the club that wants to defy all odds as the inexperienced before them have done.
As late as 2013-2014, Luton played in the National League. That season, Chelsea finished third in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League under Jose Mourinho.
Luton are not historical minnows. They have spent sixteen years of their history in the first tier and were a top half team in the mid-1980s, even winning the League Cup.
Chelsea welcome Luton to Stamford Bridge today in a clash of opposites
Kenilworth Road has hosted top-flight football in the past, but due to refurbishments it will wait for Premier League football
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Yet, with their stricken recent past and a currently unusable Kenilworth Road, they take their seats at England’s highest table, clad in rags rather than swaddled in a soft fur coat.
It’s a battle of wits between two clubs at fascinating moments, both, you feel, teetering on the line between disaster and glory, and both whose seasons could go so right or so wrong.
Ahead of one of the most polarized matches in the Premier League, Mail Sport compared the different facets of each club.
Team value
Chelsea – £1 billion+
Chelsea’s squad cost around £1 billion to put together, and more than £1.1 billion if you include players on loan like Kepa Arrizabalaga.
While the Roman Abramovich era was known for outrageous spending, their lavish imports under Todd Boehly and their new ownership group this summer shaped the market and redefined what we thought we knew.
Add to that the talents who have gone through the academy, like Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Trevoh Chalobah, and you can add up to hundreds of millions when you consider how much teams are willing to pay for players.
Even on defensive midfielders, the Blues have spent £320 million over the past two transfer windows.
Moises Caicedo’s £115 million price tag dwarfs the £20 million Luton spent on building their entire team
Luton – £20 million
Luton’s squad cost them around £20 million to put together, although some of the cost is undisclosed. In other words, the entire Luton squad cost less than Lesley Ugochukwu, who cost their opponents £23.5 million.
They have only paid fees for seven of their players, with the rest coming in for free or through the academy.
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu has been with the club since they played in the National League.
His debut against Brighton must have been a special moment for a man who embodies Luton’s resourceful and cunning spirit.
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu was with Luton in the non-league and epitomizes their resourceful and improvisational rise in the divisions
Wage
Chelsea – at least £148 million
Chelsea’s combined annual salary, excluding players on loan, is at least £148.2 million, he says spotrac.
However, they don’t have records of quite a few players, including Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson and Romeo Lavia, so in reality this figure will be even higher.
Their wage expenditure puts them third in the Premier League, behind Manchester City (£179m) and Arsenal (£160m).
Mykhailo Mudryk’s salary of around £5.2 million is more than all the reported figures we have for Luton wages put together
Luton – at least £5 million
Luton’s annual expenditure on wages is at least a much more modest figure of £4.9 million, though this excludes some stars such as Marvelous Nakamba, Ross Barkley and Ryan Giles.
However, this is based on the same data as last season, so it is likely that wage increases and player bonuses will be implemented as a result of the rise of the Premier League.
Their aggregate puts them at the bottom of the top league with less than half the spending of their nearest rivals, Sheffield United.
By this estimate, well over half of Chelsea’s squad individually earn more per annum than Luton’s collective wage bill.
Luton’s wage bill is at least £5 million, but that excludes players like Marvelous Nakamba
Chelsea – Stamford Bridge – capacity for 40,340 people
Opened in 1887 and with a record attendance of over 82,000, Stamford Bridge is an iconic London landmark.
In its early years it was used for athletics and shinty – a team sport played with sticks and a ball – before becoming a precursor to Wembley, which hosted three FA Cup finals in the 1920s.
In recent times it has hosted memorable Champions League comebacks and semi-finals for the men’s team and the 2013 Women’s Champions League final.
Stamford Bridge regularly plays host to the world’s biggest stars in the Champions League
Luton-Kenilworth Road-10356
Kenilworth Road has received much publicity for its charming Oak Stand entrance and the need to develop it before it can be used in the top flight.
It is the smallest pitch in Premier League history and the Hatters are currently unable to play home games due to the developments needed to bring it up to par.
You might assume it’s one of those ‘hard to reach’ places, but Luton only had the ninth best home record last season, compared to the second best away form.
However, it came in handy for the play-off semi-finals, as they overcame a deficit in Sunderland.
Colin Murray wrote Subway of his experience on the field when they returned to the Championship in 2019: “Knees grazed seats so close together I felt like Richard Osman at a McDonald’s children’s party.”
Kenilworth Road has gained notoriety for a standing entrance built into houses on Oak Road
Head coaches
Chelsea Mauricio Pochettino
Teams managed: Espanyol, Southampton, Spurs, PSG, Chelsea
Career win rate: 48.33 percent
Awards: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Trophee des Champions (all PSG)
Mauricio Pochettino’s stock fell slightly at PSG as he failed to make the most of what should have been the best three up front ever: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.
Trying to please the hierarchy of absent clubs, keep a grip on some of the sport’s greatest personalities and achieve success in the Champions League – which he failed to do – was an unenviable task that ended in desperation. He lasted 18 months and the comparisons to the job at Chelsea are legion.
Still, he is one of the best managers in world football. His work with the Spurs has been nothing short of amazing, bringing out the best in players like Dele Alli and Eric Dier.
One of his strengths is team building. It will be interesting to see how it plays out at Chelsea, where he is just one piece of a great recruitment puzzle, but he must give the green light to any player being pursued.
Mauricio Pochettino managed some of the most prominent clubs in the world before Chelsea
Luton-Rob Edwards
Teams managed: Wolves (interim), Telford, England U16s, Forest Green Rovers, Watford, Luton
Career win rate: 41.5%
Honours: League Two (Forest Green Rovers), Championship play-offs (Luton)
Luton has a knack for appointing coaches who help them rise above their weight, and Edwards has taken over the flame so brightly lit by the likes of Nathan Jones and Mick Harford.
After being sacked by Watford after 11 games and taking over a Luton side depressed by the loss of Jones to another club for the second time, he had a tough battle coming in last year. And boy, did he fight it.
He was appointed in November and adopted Jones’s direct playing style and versatility to help the Hatters break into the top six before eventually leading them to promotion through the playoffs.
Rob Edwards has moved up the divisions but has endured a battle with Watford along the way
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