Chelsea at Luton Town predicted XI: 3-4-3 in FA Cup fifth round

Chelsea travels to Luton Town on Wednesday as it looks to book a place in the FA Cup quarterfinals with a victory. The Blues need a strong response to follow up a crushing penalty shootout defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final last weekend. Luckily, there’s no better way to rebound than with a huge cup victory. If recent results in the competition are anything to go by though, Thomas Tuchel’s men will have their work cut out for them.

Championship representatives proved worthy competitors on Tuesday as Peterborough and Stoke City gave their opponents, Manchester City and Crystal Palace, everything they could handle. They may have come up short, but Middlesbrough did the second division proud, beating Tottenham Hotspur, 1-0. The Hatters, who host Chelsea, sit higher than any of the aforementioned clubs in the Championship table. Luton will be ready to avenge its loss to the Blues last season with a strong response in front of its home crowd. Therefore, Tuchel must field his best available team.

Here is who The Pride of London expects to start at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday evening:

Kepa Arrizabalaga (No. 1) Goalkeeper, Spain

Kepa Arrizabalaga could get thrown into action in this match, fresh off a forgettable substitute appearance against Liverpool. Arrizabalaga failed to save any of the Reds’ 11 penalties and to make things worse, missed the decisive spot-kick to hand the trophy to Jurgen Klopp’s side. While this was upsetting in the moment, it shouldn’t change how Chelsea fans think about the keeper, or at least it shouldn’t. Arrizabalaga is still a fantastic shot-stopper, there are no two ways about it.

There is no better way to forget about a poor performance than following it up immediately with a clean sheet. I fancy Arrizabalaga to keep one should he start on Tuesday.

Trevoh Chalobah (No. 14) Right centerback, England

Trevoh Chalobah is a bad man, as they say. The young defender took the spikes of Naby Keita to the groin in the Carabao Cup final and carried on until the final whistle, despite needing stitches in the dressing room following the defeat. If the Englishman is ready to go on Wednesday, he starts as one of the only fit centerbacks in the Blues’ ranks.

Antonio Rudiger (No. 2) Centerback, Germany

Antonio Rudiger is perhaps the most durable player in the Chelsea team. The experienced defender seems to play in every game and never skip a beat. The German began the season playing often due to the belief there was no suitable left centerback reserves behind him. However, the emergence of Malang Sarr has disproved this theory. Now we know he’s just been playing nearly every contest because he’s got an incredible work ethic and he’s hugely important.

Malang Sarr (No. 31) Left centerback, France

Sarr has enjoyed a lot of success during his breakthrough campaign at Stamford Bridge, similar to Chalobah. The young Frenchman is as versatile as they come, able to play as a centerback, left back or even left wingback. He may be called upon to play in Rudiger’s normal position against Luton seeing as a number of defenders will miss the game with injuries or through fatigue.