Chelsea predicted XI against Luton in FA Cup: Lukaku, Saul and Kepa restored

Chelsea will hope to put the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool behind them when they travel to Luton Town on Wednesday evening.

The defeat at Wembley would have hurt Thomas Tuchel, as the Blues created the best chances and had Liverpool on the robes for large parts of the game.

They will hope that their FA Cup run takes them back to Wembley, where they can make up for the loss of the Carabao Cup by winning the FA Cup.

Luton Town are having a great season in the Championship, and have won their last six games in all competitions at Kenilworth Road, so the visit of Chelsea makes for an interesting game.

The Blues welcomed back Reece James from injury, after the English full back spent the last two months on the treatment table, but his return coincided with an injury to veteran defender César Azpilicueta who hobbled out of the game at Wembley.

Manager Thomas Tuchel will also have the opportunity to give cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga a start, after he dropped the Spain international for Edouard Mendy at Wembley.

Some thought Kepa should have started, as he had played every game in the Carabao Cup to that point.

Tuchel was also criticised for bringing the Basque on in the final minute, and he ended up missing the decisive penalty.

He will be hoping for redemption in the FA Cup.

Luton Town and Chelsea have history as the last time they met the Blues won 3-1, with Tammy Abraham scoring a hat-trick, but that game marked the end of Frank Lampard’s time as head coach of the Blues.

Most of the players will remember that game, and since then the Blues have gone on and won the Champions League and established themselves as the champions of the World.

Chelsea’s form going into the game

Chelsea have won five of their last six games, with the only defeat coming at Wembley to Liverpool through a penalty shoot-out.

Chelsea injury issues coming into the game

The European Champions were hit with injuries at the last minute for the trip to Wembley, with Andreas Christensen and Hakim Ziyech pulling out of the game.

There is a slim chance Ziyech will be back, but it will be interesting to see if the manager decides to risk the winger given his increased importance in recent matches.

César Azpilicueta also picked up a knock, but he it is thought this is not too serious.

Chelsea’s predicted XI

Kepa; Chalobah, Rudiger, Sarr; James, Jorginho, Saul, Hudson-Odoi; Ziyech, Werner; Lukaku