After back to back losses against Valencia and Liverpool, Chelsea returned to winning ways earlier this week when they beat Grimbsy in the League Cup. They will look to take that momentum and register three crucial points when they welcome Brighton to Stamford Bridge in the league this weekend. Frank Lampard’s side scored seven goals in the League Cup tie and will look to put in a similar performance in this game as well.
Graham Potter’s men have lost each of their last four clashes with the Blues, scoring just one goal in the process and have not won a league game since their opening day victory over Watford.
Team News
In early team, Lampard is still without the services of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Emerson Palmieri and Antonio Rudiger while Andreas Christensen has a ”tiny bit of pain” after recovering from a knock picked up against Liverpool. Marco van Ginkel is also ruled out while Olivier Giroud is suffering from an illness but may yet make the bench for this game.
PREDICTED CHELSEA LINEUP VS BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION (4-3-3)
Defence
Kepa Arrizabalaga had a decent night against Liverpool and will hope to have a more comfortable outing against a struggling Brighton attack this weekend. He will have a young centre-back paring in front of him in Fikayo Tomori and Andreas Christensen in the Chelsea lineup.
Zouma will be picked only if Lampard decides against risking the Dane. Against the likes of Leandro Trossard and Neil Maupay, they are expected to be able to keep a clean sheet.
Emerson’s absence should see Marcos Alonso keep his place at left-back while Cesar Azpilicueta will sport the captain’s armband, starting at right-back.
Midfield
Lack of options should see Lampard stick with a trusted three man midfield of Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic. The trio was pegged back against Liverpool but will have a chance to express themselves in this game.
They will have to add some creativity to the Chelsea attack, to try and test a Brighton side that is expected to sit deep and defend for most of the game.
Attack
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic were both impressive in the league cup tie but could only find a place on the bench this weekend. Lampard has a lot of trust in young Mason Mount, who will start on the left flank while Willian will add some experience to the attack on the right flank in the Chelsea lineup.
Tammy Abraham failed to add to his tally against The Reds. But leading the attack for Chelsea against the likes of Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy, he will hope to test Mat Ryan in goal consistently.
CHELSEA LINEUP
