After getting thrashed by West Ham last Sunday, Chelsea has picked up their first win of the 2023/24 season and find themselves in the Premier League top ten for the first time since March 2023. That is a damning statistic.
The Blues came into this one with the confidence that they were favourites, considering that they were the hosts, and also that they were playing against Luton Town. The home side also kept their first competitive clean sheet since April 2023.
The game was very much what many expected it to be, as Luton sat back and tried to contain Mauricio Pochettino’s men, then eventually succumbing to the sheer quality gap between the two sides. It was a 3-0 win for the west London side, but it was not all roses and sunshine. Here are four positives and one negative from the match.
Positives and Negatives from Chelsea vs Luton Town
POSITIVES
Raheem Sterling: Dangerous and decisive
Sterling was, once again, Chelsea’s most dangerous player. Sterling started the game very well and very quickly, and for 90 mins Rob Edwards’ men could not deal with the Englishman. Interestingly, his dribbling was not great today, only completing them 40% of the time. He also won a poor 3/13 ground duels, which is rather surprising.
Sterling’s movement was Pochettino’s greatest weapon against Luton. The former Manchester City star scored two goals and created the third goal. He led the team in goals plus assists last season and he looks well on his way to doing that too this season.