Mauricio Pochettino urges Chelsea to match Luton’s ‘desire and fight’
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Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was not too pleased that the Blues left it late to beat Crystal Palace the last time out.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON – Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has urged his men to be ready to “fight” in their English Premier League clash at Luton Town on Dec 30.
The Blues head into the clash on the back of a hard-earned and last-gasp 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, while the Hatters will be buoyed by their 3-2 win over Sheffield United.
“Luton are a team that loves to fight, that works really hard. If you watch the last few games in their stadium, it was tough for all the opponents,” Pochettino said.
“If we want to get a good result, we need to be ready to play our football but first we need to match their desire and their capacity to fight for every single ball.
“It will be a good test for us, it is a good challenge. I am happy to go to play there because it’ll be a good experience for our young team. If we want to win, we need to fight, be clever, and be focused.
“Then we can play our football in the way we know.”
The Chelsea boss was rallying his players as he was not too pleased about leaving it late to beat Palace.
The Blues remain in 10th place, far from what is expected of them, which is a Champions League spot at least.
Much has been said about Chelsea’s struggles this season, but the win over Palace at Stamford Bridge was their fourth straight home victory in all competitions.
Luton would have taken note, however, that Pochettino’s men have lost four consecutive matches on the road, and would aim to take advantage of their poor away form.
Should Chelsea lose, it would also mark the first time since 2011 that the storied London club have lost their final game of the calendar year, which Pochettino would hope to avoid.
The two teams have already met once this season, when the Blues easily won 3-0 at home in August.
Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer will return after suspensions and boost the Chelsea squad, while Trevoh Chalobah, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Marc Cucurella and Robert Sanchez remain sidelined due to injuries.
As for Luton, Reece Burke, Dan Potts, Marvelous Nakamba and Issa Kabore are out. Captain Tom Lockyer will not return any time soon following his cardiac-arrest scare earlier in December.
On paper, the hosts are huge underdogs but Rob Edwards’ men have won two successive league matches, including a 1-0 win over Newcastle United, although they still remain in the relegation zone.
“We can perform really well against Chelsea (on Saturday) and we can still lose – because they’ve got brilliant players, a brilliant manager, and that can happen,” the manager warned.
“The win, the draw, you can’t guarantee that – that’s what makes it so exciting.”
