Enterprising Brighton will play host to a Chelsea side keen to move up the ladder at the AMEX Stadium on April 20. As of the time of this article, the Seagulls are seventh in the Premier League, with 38 points from 25 games. On the other hand, Chelsea have amassed 35 points from the same amount of games.
Brighton and Hove Albion have grown leaps and bounds since they made their way into the Premier League some seasons ago. The work of erstwhile manager Graham Potter has been taken a step further by Italian Roberto De Zerbi. The Seagulls made it to Europe for the first time last season and have become a comfortable team in the top flight despite some exits. World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister joined Merseyside giants Liverpool while Moises Caicedo and a disgruntled Robert Sanchez also moved to London to join Chelsea. The likes of Deniz Undav, Jeremy Sarmiento, and Steven Alzate also secured loan departures to VFB Stuttgart, championship side West Brom, and Belgian side Standard Liege respectively.
One thing Brighton continues to get right is their signings and before the start of the season, they got Joao Pedro from promotion hopefuls Watford, while exciting talent Carlos Baleba from Ligue 1 side LOSC Lille, Igor from Serie A’s Fiorentina and backup goalkeeper Bart Vebruggen from RSC Anderlecht. Simon Adingra and Ansu Fati are on loan deals from Union Saint Gilloise and Spanish giants Barcelona respectively. James Milner and Mahmoud were recruited on free transfers from Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
Although they started the season like a house on fire, Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton have struggled to stay consistent from the final months of 2023. Since their humiliating 6-1 loss away at Villa Park, the home of Aston Villa, The Seagulls have struggled to pick up points, picking up just ten points from the 24 that have been available since that humbling defeat. Brighton had mixed results in recent games and towards the end of 2023, but things have not been steady in 2024 as well. They drew the first two games before losing 4-0 at Luton but bounced back with a 4-1 bashing of Crystal Palace before another loss at Spurs. A 5-0 win at Sheffield got them back on track. Generally, it is that lack of consistency that has plagued their season.
Meanwhile, Chelsea made significant investments during the offseason, committing over £300 million to transfers. Among the notable arrivals were the £100 million acquisition Moisés Caicedo, who chose Chelsea over Liverpool, Robert Sánchez from Brighton, Axel Disasi and Lesley Ugochukwu from the French Ligue 1, Cole Palmer from rivals Manchester City, Nicolas Jackson from Laliga side Villarreal, Romeo Lavia from relegated Southampton, and Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig this summer.
The Blues then let go of Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ethan Ampadu, Romelu Lukaku Callum Hudson-Odoi, César Azpilicueta, N’Golo Kanté, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, Tiemoué Bakayoko, and a host of other young players. And of course, Mauricio Pochettino took over as coach in the summer. Unfortunately for Chelsea, Nkunku and Lavia were injured for a while but have finally made some appearances in the Premier League with the former scoring in the defeat at Wolves.
Chelsea have had a topsy-turvy campaign. They lost 2-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford before another 2-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park. Red Devils. They have also suffered losses to Newcastle United, Brentford, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and West Ham this season. But aside from Manchester United, the Blues have not lost to any other member of the top six. They drew both games with Manchester City and defeated Spurs away from home. Under Pochettino, the Blues have played well, but the results have just not panned out in their favor.
Brighton are a strong side when they play at home and that could cause Chelsea a lot of problems by the time this encounter goes ahead, The Londoners have struggled against teams slightly better than them a lot this campaign and that might be the case again here.
Match tickets
The epic match at AMEX Stadium in Brighton kicks off on Saturday 20th April 2024, at 3 PM UK time.
The magnificent 31,800-capacity stadium is the place to be for this clash between these two exciting teams.
Getting tickets for the Brighton v Chelsea tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton have been well known for exhibiting brilliance in the build-up since the gaffer arrived last season. They play a flexible, entertaining, and attacking brand of football. The Seagulls know how to execute their ideas quite well and will be keen to do that again in front of their home support. Striker Joao Pedro, Kaoru Mitoma, and Simon Adingra will be tasked with causing Chelsea many problems.
Brighton: Steele, Hinshelwood, Dunk, Van Hecke, Veltman, Grob, Baleba, Buonanotte, Adingra, Mitoma, Pedro.
The Blues have the biggest list of casualties in terms of injuries in the Premier League this season. Captain Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Lesley Ugochukwu, Trevor Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Christopher Nkunku, and Robert Sanchez and co have all spent a good amount of time in the physio’s room. Meanwhile, Wesley Fofana is still recovering from an ACL injury.
Chelsea XI: Robert Sanchez; Levi Colwill, Chilwell, Reece James; Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo; Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling, Jackson.
Prediction
This season, Brighton started the season like a house on fire and looked like a side that would be in the European spots at this time, but a run of inconsistent results have left them hovering around midtable and they will just be hoping they can finish well.
Chelsea on the other hand, for the second season in a row have not been able to get things back on track. However, they will have their minds focused on next season while they strive to keep their pride intact in games like this. The Blues won the reverse fixture, so the confidence to do it again will be there.
Like they did in the first installment, expect a goal-fest and the game could go either way.
Brighton 3-2 Chelsea