Brighton and Hove Albion welcome Chelsea to the Amex Stadium in one of three Premier League games occurring on this weekend’s Super Sunday.
Victory for Chelsea will see them reduce the gap to third placed Tottenham back to two points, whilst Brighton look to keep pace with their rivals in a eight way fight for a potential Europa League spot.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesBrighton will be without the suspended Shane Duffy as he serves the second of a three match ban.
Jose Izquierdo faces a late fitness test after recovering from a knee injury but Alireza Jahanbakhsh is available following a return to full fitness from a thigh injury.
Chelsea could be without Alvaro Morata after the Spaniard suffered a knee injury in their 2-2 draw with MOL Vidi in midweek.
Midfielders; Mateo Kovacic (thigh), Marco van Ginkel (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and Victor Moses (back) are all ruled out.
Form
Brighton have still not found any real consistency in results but are unbeaten in three of last four games, despite keeping no clean sheets in their last six.
Five of the Seagulls’ last six home goals in four most recent home games all came in first half with Glenn Murray having scored in each of those games.
After going unbeaten in their opening 12 games, Chelsea have struggled for league form lately with two home wins sandwiching a pair of away losses.
Stat Attack
- Brighton are on a eight match losing streak against Chelsea, having won and drawn their first two meetings respectively back in 1933 and 1967 FA Cup tournaments (W1, D1, L8).
- The Seagulls haven’t kept a clean sheet against Chelsea in last five clashes, losing those games by an aggregate scoreline of 0-10. Six of those conceded goals came from their two meetings last season, when the Londoners won 2-0 at home then 4-0 at the Amex.
- Five different Chelsea players scored across both meetings last season with four goals coming in second half.
- Brighton have taken 14 points from their opening seven home games this season, compared to ten from same period last season.
- Chelsea have scored 33 goals so far this season, which is five more than the 28 goals produced by this stage last season
Prediction
Given Brighton’s home form, this is going to be a tough game but Chelsea will be just too strong despite struggling in their last two away games.
Prediction: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Chelsea
Jake predicts: Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Chelsea
Result: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Chelsea