Chelsea fans’ preferred lineup against Luton Town: Out with the 4-3-3, in with the 4-2-3-1!

Chelsea go up against Championship side Luton Town in the FA Cup on Sunday as Frank Lampard looks to get the season back on track. Winning a nostalgic trophy such as the FA Cup certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially after falling at the very last hurdle last season, and with some of the big teams already eliminated.

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

It finally happened. The WAGNH community has had enough of the 4-3-3 (37%), opting for the 4-2-3-1 for the first time in quite a while, albeit by just a few percentage points. The 4-4-2 (13%) and 3-4-3 (8%) receive a small amount of the votes.

At goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga comes in for the cup game ahead of Édouard Mendy (30%). Willy Caballero (5%) and Petr Čech (3%) split the rest.

The defense sees a predictable reshuffle as the back four from the last game, Thiago Silva (25%), Toni Rüdiger (39%), Reece James (40%), and Ben Chilwell (28%), make way for Andreas Christensen, Emerson, César Azpilicueta, and Kurt Zouma. Fikayo Tomori (7%) has sadly left; Marcos Alonso (10%) will probably be on his way soon, too.

In the double pivot — memes, assemble! — Billy Gilmour and Mason Mount anchor the midfield while N’Golo Kanté (5%) remains out with injury and Mateo Kovačić (33%) gets dropped after some below-par performances. Jorginho (39%) might not be a preferred choice for the community, but he might be a realistic choice for Lampard though.

A strong attack sees Kai Havertz play his favoured No.10 role, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech playing either side of him. Christian Pulisic (36%) should get some rest here while Tino Anjorin (28%) could come off the bench. Timo Werner leads the line ahead of Tammy Abraham (35%) and Olivier Giroud (9%).

4-2-3-1 (40%)
Arrizabalaga (63%) | Emerson (63%), Zouma (79%), Christensen (54%), Azpilicueta (62%) | Mount (42%), Gilmour (90%) | Hudson-Odoi (69%), Havertz (78%), Ziyech (58%) | Werner (72%)

MY PREFERRED CHOICE

I also took the opportunity to change up the formation as it seems clear that the three-man midfield isn’t working right now.

I did make a change from the community’s choice, swapping Jorginho for Mount. Mason has undoubtedly been one of Chelsea’s best players of late and he deserves a rest here. The Gilmour-Jorginho partnership seems intriguing and should be more than capable of doing the job especially given that Luton will most likely sit back.

You could make an argument for Anjorin starting ahead any one of the other names chosen by the community in attack, but I’m happy either way — “happy” being a bit of an ambiguous term as a Chelsea fan nowadays.

4-2-3-1
Arrizabalaga | Emerson, Zouma, Christensen, Azpilicueta | Jorginho, Gilmour | Hudson-Odoi, Havertz, Ziyech | Werner