Brighton vs Chelsea Prediction

Brighton prepare to face Chelsea for the second time in less than a week as the away side look to avenge Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup elimination at the hands of the Seagulls.

Chelsea put in a sub-par performance on Saturday, and a couple of careless mistakes allowed Brighton to come from behind to win. In the second half, despite changes, the Blues struggled to threaten, and apart from a couple of late Bart Verbruggen saves, failed to test the Brighton back-line.

Brighton’s win was a much needed improvement from the thrashing they received at the hands of Nottingham Forest, and in easing to a win over Enzo Maresca’s top four contenders, Fabian Hurzeler will be confident in repeating the same trick in the league.

As the game approaches, here is everything you need to know about both sides ahead of kick-off.

Key Statistics

• Brighton’s FA Cup win over Chelsea was their first victory over the Blues in their last five meetings.
• Furthermore, this fixture almost always finds a winner, with the two sides failing to draw a game between them in eight.
• Chelsea have been suspect in defence recently, and have failed to keep a clean sheet in five games, contributing to just two wins in that time.
• If Chelsea win, they would stay fourth. However, a loss could see them fall as far as seventh, with Man City, Newcastle and Bournemouth all within reach.

Brighton Preview

Brighton Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen (GK); Tariq Lamptey, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Joel Veltman; Jack Hinshelwood, Carlos Baleba; Kaoru Mitoma, Georginio Rutter, Yankuba Minteh; Joao Pedro.

After a dreary festive period saw them fail to win in eight games, Brighton have come back after New Year a rejuvenated side, currently on a run of four wins in their last six, including victory of giants Chelsea and Man United.

The sudden uptick in performance seems counter-intuitive, as the Seagulls have been obliterated by injuries in recent times. Estupinan, Kadioglu, Milner, Wieffer, and March have all been on the sidelines for considerable time, and it seems there is always a new name replacing an old one.

However, it appears Hurzeler has worked out a way to format his side without his top names, a way which makes them dastardly tricky to play against. Comfortably beating Chelsea on Friday, they may have showed their hand to the Blues, but such was the effectiveness of their strategy that there is significant doubt that Chelsea can learn from the first iteration.

Chelsea Preview

Chelsea Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1): Filip Jorgensen (GK); Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella; Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo; Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto; Christopher Nkunku.

After such a promising period right up until Christmas, Chelsea’s alleged title charge has seriously derailed since that time. Maresca’s side has managed just two wins in their last eight league games, a run which saw them temporarily drop out of the top four before victory over West Ham in their last league outing.

Injuries haven’t been helpful. Missing starting striker Nicolas Jackson, midfielder Romeo lavia and various defenders through long-term injury, Maresca has had to be creative with a couple of his starting lineups. Still, with the quality depth and value in Chelsea’s side, the fans would have expected better results.

However, a “second leg” against Brighton is a useful thing, as in their FA Cup defeat, they were able to try some new strategies while simultaneously learning Brighton’s approach, which would have prepared them well for this league fixture, which Maresca seems to view as the more important game. Chelsea need a win to boost their confidence, but it’s hard to call how this one is going to go.

Brighton vs Chelsea Head to Head

Recent Meetings:

• 08/02/2024: Brighton 2-1 Chelsea.
• 28/09/2024: Chelsea 4-2 Brighton.
• 15/05/2024: Brighton 1-2 Chelsea.
• 03/12/2024: Chelsea 3-2 Brighton.
• 27/09/2023: Chelsea 1-0 Brighton.

Brighton vs Chelsea Betting Tip

Seeing as Chelsea appear to be mainly focusing on the Premier League and Conference League, they will go for broke in this one, especially while being fuelled with the hurt of their defeat to the Seagulls last week.

Brighton and Chelsea are both exciting teams, and more often than not score multiple goals in a match, so we are backing both teams to score.

Brighton vs Chelsea Final Prediction

Brighton 1-2 Chelsea

It will be a close game, but we think Chelsea will be able to flip the FA Cup tie’s score on it’s head and come away with a vital league victory to move them closer to Champions League qualification.