Chelsea FC
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion
Chelsea can move back into the top four with win over battling Brighton
Chelsea to win 2-1
Chelsea football club are in a good place right now. They appear to have recruited their new manager wisely, with Thomas Tuchel suffering just two defeats from his first 19 games in charge, and led his side to an impressive win over Manchester City in the FA Cup at the weekend to take them to the final.
Due to the shock 5-2 defeat to West Brom recently, they fell out of the top four, with West Ham overtaking them – temporarily at least.
Depending on the results of the Liverpool game 24 hours before this one, Chelsea may have fallen to 6th. A win, however, would see them push back into the top four.
Brighton are likely to be safe this season, boasting a six-point lead over Fulham in 18th place, however the recent form of Newcastle has seen the South Coast side move a place closer to the bottom three.
They have seven points from their last five games and, if they can continue that run of form, will be comfortably safe.
Form Guide (all comps): LWWLW
Reasons to be cheerful:
Unbeaten in 14 games against Brighton
They’ve kept 14 clean sheets from the 19 matches since Tuchel took over
Reasons to be fearful:
Could be fatigued after the weekend’s FA Cup game
Face losing back-to-back home games for the first time in two years
Chelsea have proved themselves to be at their very best right now with that FA Cup win over Manchester City at the weekend. City, who were going for a record Quadruple, were unable to match Chelsea’s intensity all over the pitch.
The likes of Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech were far too energetic for their opponents, and you can see exactly the improvements which Tuchel has made to the squad.
Here, The Blues will want to continue their fantastic record over Brighton, having gone undefeated since 1933. Despite this, their opponents will have had over a week to prepare for this, while Chelsea have had just a few days.
Thiago Silva may well be rested after playing at the weekend.
Star Man – Mason Mount
Ran City ragged at the weekend – the young Blues midfielder is establishing himself as one of the best in his position in the league.
Form Guide (all comps): LWWLD
Reasons to be cheerful:
Could win a record sixth game of the season at home
And, they’ve kept 10 clean sheets this campaign, their best since 1981-82
Reasons to be fearful:
They’ve won just two of their last nine fixtures
Poor record vs. Chelsea
Brighton will be a little nervous looking at the current league table, seeing that they’re just two places above the relegation zone.
Despite that, they’ll be relatively pleased with their recent form, winning twice and drawing once from their last five matches, and with a gap of six points and two games in hand over Fulham, they’ll remain reasonably confident of staying up.
They know that they can claim a big result when they need to, with wins secured over the likes of Spurs and Liverpool this season.
That may not be the case here, but with seven games to go, it’s likely their secure the required points.
Here, defenders Dan Burn and Adam Webster could start, having both returned from injury.
Star Man – Danny Welbeck
Scored recently against Manchester United recently, the pacey striker could be key to stretching Chelsea’s defence.
Chelsea will start as clear favourites
There should be chances at both ends
The home side will make several changes after FA Cup win
With a squad the size of Chelsea’s, they can afford to rotate several players between matches and expect the same type of performance.
After their FA Cup win just a few days ago, Thomas Tuchel is likely to make a few changes, but with players like Pulisic, Havertz and Alonso to bring in, they should still be too strong here.
Brighton have performed brilliantly at times this season, but they’ll have their work cut out here.
Chelsea to win 2-1
