The Chelsea squad costs over 50 times more than Luton's & their wage is 30 times

When Chelsea host Luton Town on Friday, it will mark the convergence of two polar opposites.

At one end of the scale, the supreme spenders, the powder keg of a club who demand success year on year, the chalice forever poisoned by the tyranny of ambition.

At the other, the Premier League's newest plucky upstarts, the upward climbers in a permanent dream-state, the club who want to defy all the odds like the unfancied before them have.

As recently as 2013/14, Luton were in the National League. That season, Chelsea came third in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League under Jose Mourinho.

Luton are no historical minnows. They've spent 16 years of their history in the first tier and in the mid-late eighties were a top-half team, even winning the League Cup.

All the same, with their afflicted recent past and a currently unuseable Kenilworth Road, they take their seat at England's top table clothed in rags rather than swaddled in a plush fur coat.

It's a battle of wits between two clubs at fascinating junctures, both, you feel, balanced on the border between disaster and glory, both whose seasons could go so right or so wrong.

Ahead of one of the Premier League's most polarised matches, Mail Sport compared the various facets of each club.

Squad value

Chelsea - £1billion+

Chelsea's squad cost around £1billion to assemble, and over £1.1b if you include players out on loan such as Kepa Arrizabalaga.

While the Roman Abramovich era was known for excess spending, their lavish imports under Todd Boehly and their new ownership group have shaped the market this summer and redefined what we thought we knew.

Count in talents who have come through the academy, such as Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Trevoh Chalobah, and you can add on several hundred million considering how much teams are willing to pay for players.

Even on defensive midfielders over the past two transfer windows, the Blues have splashed out £320m.

Luton - £20million

Luton's squad cost them around £20m to put together, though some of the fees are undisclosed. In other terms, Luton's entire squad cost less than Lesley Ugochukwu, who cost their opponents £23.5m.

They've only paid a fee for seven of their players, with the rest coming in for free or through the academy.

Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu has been with the club ever since they were in the National League.

Making his debut against Brighton must have been a special moment for a man who epitomises Luton's resourceful and shrewd spirit.

Wages

Chelsea - £148m minimum

Chelsea's combined annual wage, excluding players out on loan, is at least £148.2m according to Spotrac, a solid website on player wages who collate data from reliable sources.

However, they don't have data for quite a few players, including Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, and Romeo Lavia, so in reality this figure will be even higher.

Their spending on wages puts them third in the Premier League behind Manchester City (£179m) and Arsenal (£160m).

Luton - £5m minimum

Luton's annual spend on wages is a much more humble £4.9m at least, though that leaves out several stars like Marvelous Nakamba, Ross Barkley, and Ryan Giles.

However, this is going on the same data as last season, so it is likely that players will have wage rises and bonuses implemented due to the Premier League ascension.

Their total puts them rock bottom of the top flight on less than half the spend of their nearest rivals, Sheffield United.

By this estimate, well over half of Chelsea's squad individually earn more per year than Luton's collective wage bill.

Chelsea - Stamford Bridge - 40,340 capacity

Opened in 1887 and having seen a record attendance of over 82,000, Stamford Bridge is an iconic London ground.

In its early years it was used for athletics and shinty - a team sport played with sticks and a ball - before becoming a precursor to Wembley, hosting three FA Cup finals in the 1920s.

In recent times, it has hosted memorable Champions League comebacks and semi-finals for the men's team and the 2013 women's Champions League final.

Luton - Kenilworth Road - 10,356

Kenilworth Road has gained much publicity for its charming Oak Stand entrance and its need to be developed before it can be used in the top flight.

It is the smallest ground in Premier League history and the Hatters can't play home games at the moment due to the developments needed to bring it up to standard.

You might assume it's one of those 'hard to go' places but Luton only had the ninth-best home record last season, compared to the second-best away form.

It came in handy for the play-off semi-finals, though, when they overturned a deficit acquired in Sunderland.

Colin Murray wrote in Metro of his experience at the ground when they returned to the Championship in 2019: 'knees grazed by seats so close together that I felt like Richard Osman at a McDonald’s children’s party.'

Head coaches

Chelsea - Mauricio Pochettino

Teams managed: Espanyol, Southampton, Spurs, PSG, Chelsea

Career win percentage: 48.33%

Honours: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Trophee des Champions (all PSG)

Mauricio Pochettino's stock fell slightly at PSG when he failed to get the best out of what should have been the greatest front three ever: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar.

Trying to satisfy an absentee club hierarchy, keep a handle on some of the sport's biggest personalities, and deliver Champions League success - which he did not - was an unenviable task that ended in despair. He lasted 18 months and the comparisons with the Chelsea job are plentiful.

All the same, he is one of the best managers in world football. His work with Spurs was nothing short of astounding and he got the best out of players like Dele Alli and Eric Dier.

One of his strengths is squad building. It will be interesting to see how it pans out at Chelsea, where he is just a piece of a large recruitment puzzle, but he has to give the green light for any player to be pursued.

Luton - Rob Edwards

Teams managed: Wolves (interim), Telford, England U16s, Forest Green Rovers, Watford, Luton

Career win percentage: 41.5%

Honours: League Two (Forest Green Rovers), Championship play-offs (Luton)

Luton have a knack of appointing coaches who help them punch above their weight, and Edwards has taken up the flame lit so brightly by the likes of Nathan Jones and Mick Harford.

Sacked by Watford after 11 games and taking over a Luton side crestfallen by the loss of Jones to another club for a second time, he had a tough battle to fight when he came in last year. And boy did he fight it.

Appointed in November, he adopted Jones' direct style of play and versatility to help the Hatters break into the top six before eventually leading them to promotion via the play-offs.