Penders, Palestra, Caicedo, Fernandez: Xabi Alonso offers quadruple Chelsea team news update for Luton tie
RoundtableSports · Gerry Crisandy · 2026-08-26T18:15:19+00:00 · nguồn gốc
Xabi Alonso is expected to rotate his Chelsea side heavily for the League Cup tie.
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has delivered the team news ahead of their Carabao Cup second-round tie against Luton Town on Thursday night.
The Blues host the League One side at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening. Following a hard-fought win over west London neighbours Fulham on Monday, Alonso is expected to make plenty of team changes for the cup tie.
The players who played significant minutes at Craven Cottage are likely to be rotated out in favour of squad players as he freshens up the team midweek.
However, Alonso confirmed that Moises Caicedo and Marco Palestra, who were absent on Monday due to “minor” fitness issues, remain out for this game.
"Not for tomorrow,” said the Chelsea boss in Wednesday’s press conference when asked about Caicedo and Palestra.
“Hopefully, Moi can make it for the weekend. We need to check a little bit more with Marco."
It is hardly a surprise that Chelsea decided not to risk forcing the pair’s returns in a League Cup tie. After all, based on the team’s pre-season, the two injury absentees are key personnel in Alonso’s system.
Enzo Fernandez and Mike Penders available for League Cup tie
Chelsea have other options in their positions. Romeo Lavia and Reece James started in midfield against Fulham, with Fernandez coming on as a substitute in the second half.
While Fernandez continues to be linked with a potential move to Manchester City, Alonso confirmed the Argentina international will be in the team.
“Yes, we expect that he's involved,” said the Spaniard about Fernandez’s availability.
“He's trained. He's training really well. He's a good professional, and he will be involved.”
Summer signing Valentin Barco was left unused on the bench against Fulham and could also make his official Chelsea debut on Thursday.
For the wing-back positions, Alonso has Pep Chavarria and Pedro Neto as options to replace Jorrel Hato and Malo Gusto, who started on Monday.
Two wingers, Geovany Quenda and Jamie Gittens, also played as wing-backs during the pre-season and may get the nod to play in these roles.
Robert Sanchez faced heavy criticism for his poor performance in goal, conceding two poor goals against Fulham.
Alonso refused to announce his team selection a day before the match, but he confirmed young goalkeeper Penders “will be in the squad and will have an opportunity” to be in the starting 11.
The starters against Fulham, including the front three, Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, and Joao Pedro, spent the training session on Tuesday afternoon in the gym for recovery work. Others trained with the ball on the pitch.
Emmanuel Emegha and Aaron Anselmino, who recently nursed hamstring injuries, were seen among the latter. Like Barco, they could make their official Chelsea debuts in the cup tie.
Meanwhile, Wesley Fofana, who served the first of his two-game suspension against Fulham, will sit out Thursday's tie.