Brighton & Hove Albion host top-four-chasing Chelsea at the AMEX Stadium in Friday Night Football.
Victory will lift Brighton up to eighth ahead of the weekend’s action, whilst Chelsea will stay fourth in the table for another week with a win.
Team News
Lewis Dunk is a doubt for Brighton after he suffered a back injury in the first half of their FA Cup comeback win over Chelsea last weekend.
Jason Steele (shoulder), Pervis Estupinan (unspecified), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), Solly March (unspecified), Igor Julio, James Milner (both hamstring) and Mats Wieffer (thigh) remain sidelined.
Chelsea will again be without Marc Guiu and Nicolas Jackson due to respective muscle and hamstring injuries.
Mykhailo Mudryk (suspension), Romeo Lavia (muscle), Benoit Badiashile (thigh), Wesley Fofana and Omari Kellyman (both hamstring) are still ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Brighton host Chelsea at AMEX Stadium on Friday 14 February at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brighton have won two of their last five league meetings against Chelsea (W2, L3).
- Chelsea have lost one of their last five league visits to Brighton (W2, D2, L1)
- Brighton have never claimed consecutive home wins over Chelsea in all competitions.
- No Brighton player has hit the woodwork in the league on more occasions this season than Danny Welbeck (2).
- Coming into this matchweek, no English player has produced more passes in the top-flight this season than Chelsea’s Levi Colwill (1,668).
Prediction
Having eliminated Chelsea in the FA Cup after coming from behind following a silly own-goal, Brighton now need to be just as disciplined and clinical as they were if want another win especially after their disastrous last league outing – which saw them humiliated 7-0 at Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago.
Chelsea meanwhile have won just two of their last eight league games and after delivering a sloppy performance in their defeat last weekend despite their dominance, they really need to bounce back clinically now that the top-four race is their main focus for the next few weeks.
Both teams though will know what to expect from each other after the cup clash so I do expect a close battle and wouldn’t be surprised if this ends in a draw.
Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
Result: Brighton 3-0 Chelsea