Five Things Learned From Chelsea's 2-0 Carabao Cup Second-Round Win Over Luton Town | OneFootball

Chelsea secured a 2-0 win over Luton Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Thursday.

Xabi Alonso made some interesting team decisions for the League Cup tie. He made some rotations, but not as drastic as many expected.

Key players such as Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, and Reece James kept their spots in the starting line-up despite playing 80+ minutes in the season-opener win over Fulham on Monday.

With an overwhelming advantage in quality on the pitch, Chelsea unsurprisingly dominated the League One side from the start.

Luton knew they were always going to spend most of the game in their own defensive third, and they did it remarkably well.

Chelsea had 17 shot attempts in the first half, but only four were on target. Luton goalkeeper Josh Keeley managed to stop the few shots that went his way in this period, including two close-range attempts from Palmer.

Rogers went the closest to breaking the deadlock, but his right-footed strike, from an Estevao cut-back, only hit the bar.

Luton kept the game goalless at the break, but it did not take long for Chelsea to finally find an opening.

After a beautiful underlapping run on the right, Malo Gusto found new Chelsea teammate Danny Welbeck with his cross. Welbeck was not going to miss from such range and headed it home to score his first goal for Chelsea on his official debut in the 50th minute.

Chelsea continued to push for a second goal as Alonso introduced some fresh legs into the team, including Joao Pedro. It finally came in the 79th minute, through an own goal. Luton defender Hakeem Odoffin put the ball in his own net in an attempt to clear Estevao’s shot.

With the 2-0 win over Luton Town, Chelsea are through to the third round of the Carabao Cup, where they will host Leeds United in mid-September.

Here are five things learned from Chelsea’s Carabao Cup second-round win.

Having utilised the 3-4-2-1 formation in the last four games, including pre-season, Alonso opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation in this game.

This allowed him to field an extra attacker, in this case Estevao, while trusting Maxence Lacroix and Josh Acheampong to play as the centre-back pair.

Luton posed little threat to Chelsea offensively, and Estevao forced a Luton own goal to double Chelsea’s lead, so it paid off well in the end.

Welbeck scored the important opening goal in this match, while Barco looked comfortable in midfield, controlling the tempo and creating a few chances. The Argentine finished the game with 93 per cent passing accuracy.

Pep Chavarria also made his full debut, having previously come on as a substitute against Fulham on Monday. He offered a lot of energy as expected, although there is clearly room for improvement in terms of winning his duels.

With Alonso opting for a back-four system, it would have been an obvious choice to field James in his natural right-back role. Instead, Alonso continued to play him in midfield, this time alongside Barco.

James has the defensive prowess to be a top number six, of course, and in midfield, he does not have to strain his hamstring as much as when playing as a full-back or wing-back.

It is another positive result for the Spaniard’s start at Chelsea, but there is an argument that he took too much risk with his star players in a cup game against a lower-league side.

Without European football this season, the lack of rotation could also prove problematic in keeping the squad players happy.

Enzo Fernandez’s surprise absence

In the pre-match press conference, Alonso confirmed that the Argentina international would be available for the cup tie.

Fernandez only featured as a second-half substitute against Fulham, so it would have made sense if he started ahead of James against Luton. But Fernandez was nowhere to be seen on the team sheet, adding fuel to the rumours of his potential move to Manchester City.

Post-match, Alonso confirmed that he and the club made the decision regarding Fernandez's absence.