Brighton & Hove Albion vs Chelsea - Preview, Prediction, Team News, Lineups
Brighton vs Chelsea Preview
Split by just one point in an ever-congested Premier League midfield, stuttering Chelsea and impressive Brighton will lock horns at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday night.
🚨 Chelsea have scored zero goals in last four Premier League games; and four defeats. pic.twitter.com/8eJwePuyPj
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 18, 2026
The Blues are fighting for a slim chance of making it into the Champions League next season, hopes which were damaged by a 1-0 loss to Manchester United. Meanwhile, the Seagulls kept their own European credentials alive with a 2-2 comeback draw against Tottenham - a result which further implicated Spurs' drastic fight against relegation.
With all the action set to get underway tomorrow evening, this is everything you need to know on Brighton vs Chelsea.
Brighton vs Chelsea Match Preview
Chelsea
Liam Rosenior's time as a professional player came to an end whilst on the books with Brighton back in 2018, and the 41-year-old's chances of taking Chelsea into Europe's flagship competition next season may be over and done with if there is to be another bad result for the Blues this week.
The 'new manager bounce' has officially worn off, and Chelsea now hold the undesirable accolade of being the only side to lose each of their last four Premier League matches - Matheus Cunha dismissed the Blues into another morale-shattering loss on Saturday against Manchester United.
A lack of regular starts have hampered Liam Delap's Chelsea career - but he has now gone 20 consecutive games without a goal.
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) April 19, 2026
Securing an in-demand Delap last summer was seen as a coup, but he has struggled to establish himself as Chelsea's main striker.
And the trend doesn't… pic.twitter.com/prUEHDWunr
Having no Joao Pedro available certainly didn't help, but Michael Carrick's ram-shackle defence, one absent of Harry Maguire, Leny Yoro, Lisandro Martinez and Mathijs de Ligt, should have felt the heat far more than it did - it made a failure from Rosenior's side to find the net even more disappointing.
As well as losing five from their last six in all competitions, Chelsea have been goalless in all five of those games as well. They have techincally scored seven in their last five, but all of these came in one game - a 7-0 annihilation of League Two side Port Vale in the FA Cup.
🚨🚨| BREAKING: Chelsea are willing to sell Alejandro Garnacho this summer. 🇦🇷🔵
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) April 20, 2026
There is an acceptance among the hierarchy the £40m signing of Garnacho is not working out.
[@alex_crook] pic.twitter.com/vm4XRY8L4X
No matter what happens on Tuesday, Chelsea cannot rise any higher than sixth in the league on Tuesday. What's more, is that Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, Brighton and Everton have all been given space to close the gap on the two-time Champions League winners. Chelsea may be sat in sixth at the moment, but just six points seperate them from Newcastle in 14th. A few more bad results, both directly involving Chelsea and otherwise, could see this season turn very dismal indeed.
Brighton
Chelsea still being in contention for a Champions League place means that Brighton are still hopeful of reserving a seat at Europe's top table, after holding the manager who earned them their first-ever trip around the continent to a point on Saturday.
Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham side got ahead of Brighton twice on Saturday, and twice still they responded well - an outstanding volley from Kaoru Mitoma and a decider at the death from Georginio Rutter pushed the Lilywhites closer to the basement door whilst bolstering Brighton's hopes of cracking the top seven.
Kaoru Mitoma with a brilliant volley to equalise for Brighton! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/oTU2jvq9A6
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 18, 2026
Just one singular point separates Brighton from Chelsea, Brentford and Bournemouth in this chaotic race for Europe, but Saturday's even honours brought an end to a run of three straight wins for Fabian Hurzeler's side - Brighton were the most in-form team in the league as they faced the Premier League's most out-of-form team in Spurs.
From a wider lense, Brighton have won just three of their most recent 10 in the Premier League at home, having won four from their first six this term. However, their most recent outing as hosts was a stunning 2-1 win over 'defending' champions Liverpool back in March.
Brighton had the share of the spoils the last time these two sides faced off, when the Seagulls beat Chelsea 3-1 over at Stamford Bridge after an inspirational Danny Welbeck display. That win extended their winning run over Chelsea in all competitions to three after consecutive wins in the FA Cup and Premier League - six days apart - in February last year.
Brighton Recent Form - W L W W W D
Chelsea Recent Form - L W L L L L
Brighton vs Chelsea Team News
Brighton
Predicted Starting XI - Verbruggen; Wieffer, Dunk, van Hecke, Kadioglu; Gross, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, de Cuyper; Welbeck
Diego Gomez could hardly hide his emotion following a grim first-half injury against Spurs at the weekend, jarring his knee following an awkward landing. His replacement and eventual goalscorer, Mitoma, was also forced off late in the day. No definitive update on either player has come from Hurzeler as of yet.
James Milner will remain out for unspecified reasons, as will Adam Webster and Stefanos Tzimas for knee injuries. In lighter news, captain Lewis Dunk can return from a two-game ban.
Chelsea
Predicted Starting XI - Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Pedro, Neto; Delap
Joao Pedro's pre-game dropout was a big blow for Chelsea in their last outing, but Liam Rosenior then had to deal with a double whammy of injuries after Estevao and Enzo Fernandez were forced off either side of half time.
A teary Estevao may be out for some time with a hamstring injury, potentially jeopardizing his World Cup aspirations, but Rosenior will remain hopeful for the availabilities of Fernandez and Pedro on Tuesday night.
Benoit Badiashile and Filip Jorgensen have not been certainly ruled out just yet, but Reece James, Levi Colwill, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and, of course, Mykhaylo Mudryk will not be involved.
Alec Hayward 
Oliver Seymour 
