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Premier League | Gameweek 20

Dec 30, 2023 at 12.30pm UK

Kenilworth Road Stadium

Luton
2 - 3
Chelsea

Barkley (80'), Adebayo (87')
Brown (27'), Mengi (77')

FT(HT: 0-2)

Palmer (12', 70'), Madueke (37')
Disasi (87'), Gusto (90+4')

Romeo Lavia, Mykhaylo Mudryk doubtful for Chelsea clash with Luton Town

By Ben Sully | 29 December 2023

Lavia, Mudryk doubtful for Chelsea clash with Luton

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino reveals that midfielder Romeo Lavia and winger Mykhaylo Mudryk are doubts for Saturday's clash with Luton Town.

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Romeo Lavia and Mykhaylo Mudryk are doubts for Saturday's clash with Luton Town.

Lavia has struggled with fitness issues since completing a £58m move from Southampton in the summer transfer window.

Having spent the majority of the season on the sidelines, Lavia made his long-awaited debut in Wednesday's 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

The Belgium international came off the bench to play the final half-hour of a closely-fought contest, where Noni Madueke dispatched a late spot kick to seal all three points.

Despite getting valuable minutes under his belt, Lavia struggled to make it through his Chelsea bow due to an injury issue.

Chelsea's Mykhaylo Mudryk celebrates scoring their first goal on December 27, 2023 © Reuters

Mudryk, who opened the scoring against Palace, also picked up a knock and was replaced in the 71st minute by Armando Broja.

Speaking in Friday's press conference, Pochettino has revealed that Lavia and Mudryk are both doubts for Saturday's game at Kenilworth Road.

"We need to assess Mudryk and then Lavia," Pochettino told reporters. "Lavia feels something, some issue. We need to check and hope it's not [bad].

"I'm a little bit worried. I don't know, because if you were watching the [Palace] game you cannot appreciate I was changing the position with Lavia at the end because he was struggling to run.

"We will see what is going on. Hopefully, it is not a big issue and he can play with us again. [He is an] important player that will recover and it is going to be a shame if we cannot use him in the next few games."

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino reacts on December 16, 2023 © Reuters

The Chelsea boss will definitely be without the services of Robert Sanchez, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez and Carney Chukwuemeka.

Midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu is also set to miss a second straight game after picking up a hamstring injury in the defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.

Ben Chilwell is believed to be closing in on a return to fitness, but Saturday's contest will come too soon for the full-back.

Having picked up 25 points from 19 matches, Chelsea head into their final fixture of 2023 in 10th position in the Premier League table.