Alonso confirms Caicedo and Palestra out for Luton tie, expects Enzo to play

Xabi Alonso will be without Moises Caicedo and Marco Palestra when Chelsea face Luton Town in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, but he expects Enzo Fernandez to feature despite growing noise around the midfielder’s future.

Caicedo has been ruled out of the third-round tie but is targeting a swift return.

“Both not for tomorrow,” Alonso said when asked about Caicedo and Palestra. “Hopefully Moi can make it for the weekend. Maybe we need to check a little bit more with Marco.”

Palestra’s situation is less clear, with the club set to run further checks before putting any timeline on his comeback.

While injuries shape part of Alonso’s selection puzzle, the bigger cloud hangs over Fernandez. Manchester City are expected to move for the Argentina international, yet Alonso made it clear he is planning with him, not without him.

“Yes, so we expect that he’s involved, he’s trained, he’s training really well, he’s a good professional and he will be involved,” Alonso said.

The message was firm when pressed on whether he wants Fernandez to stay at Stamford Bridge.

“We want to have the best team possible. We know his qualities, he has shown it and we have to wait, but we will think about tomorrow and let’s see how things develop.”

Chelsea go into the Luton tie juggling fitness concerns and transfer speculation, but Alonso’s stance is blunt enough: Caicedo and Palestra are out, Enzo is in – at least for now.