EPL: Match Update, Team News As Chelsea Host Brighton

Chelsea will be seeking a second successive win when they welcome Brighton to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Tuesday evening.

Last weekend, the Blues qualified for the FA Cup final, beating Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley. Tuchel’s men could climb above Leicester City with a win tonight, as the race for Champions League places hots up.

Midfielder Mateo Kovacic will again be missing for Chelsea. The Croatian missed the City game through injury and will not make a return against Brighton.

Tuchel has confirmed that the Blues will have to manage Thiago Silva’s workload carefully after he went off at the weekend.

Andreas Christensen is likely to return after playing no part in the last two fixtures.

Chelsea and Brighton meet for only for the 12th occasion in the league, eighth in the top flight, and 16th overall.

Among the sides they have faced in English league football, Chelsea is the only team Brighton has failed to beat. We have won 10 and drawn one of our previous 11 league encounters.

We have won and kept clean sheets in all of our six matches against Brighton at the Bridge (five league, one FA Cup), scoring 14 goals.

Chelsea won the reverse fixture at the Amex on the opening day of the season 3-1 with goals from Jorginho (pen), Reece James and Kurt Zouma.

Only Manchester City (23) have conceded fewer Premier League goals this season than Chelsea (31). Thomas Tuchel’s side have kept 14 clean sheets in our last 19 matches in all competitions.

Only Man City (17) have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Chelsea (15).

Chelsea are hoping to avoid consecutive home league defeats for the first time since December 2019 when we lost to Bournemouth and Southampton without scoring a goal.

Chelsea’s next penalty in the Premier League will be our 150th awarded to us in the competition.

Forty-seven of Chelsea’s 50 Premier League goals this season have been scored from inside the area. One of the three from outside the box was scored by Reece James in the reverse fixture at the Amex in September. The others were Mason Mount at West Brom in the same month and Hakim Ziyech at Burnley in October.

Having equaled Kerry Dixon’s 420 careers Chelsea appearances at Wembley on Saturday, Cesar Azpilicueta now has the chance to match Steve Clarke’s 421 appearances and move equal eighth with him on our all-time list.

Graham Potter’s side are 16th with 33 points from their 31 games, six points above the drop zone. No Premier League side has dropped more points from winning positions this season than Brighton (20, level with Tottenham).

The Seagulls have a better away record than at home this season, winning 19 points from 15 games on the road compared to 14 from 16 at the Amex.

Only Manchester United (six) have drawn more Premier League matches 0-0 than Brighton (five) this season. Since winning promotion in 2017, the Seagulls have drawn more Premier League games 0-0 than any other side (16).

Brighton have kept 10 clean sheets in the Premier League this season, with seven of those coming since the turn of the year.

Since the Seagulls won at Arsenal in December 2019, they have failed to win any of their past seven Premier League games in London. They have drawn five of those and lost two, both at Tottenham.

Brighton have won three of their last six Premier League away games, having won just two of their first nine on the road this season.

Full Chelsea squad available to face Brighton: Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga & Willy Caballero.

Defenders: Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Ben Chilwell, Marcos Alonso & Emerson Palmieri.

Read Also: EPL: Klopp Reacts After Stunning Loss To Brighton At Anfield

Midfielders: Hakim Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic & Faustino Anjorin.

Strikers: Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham & Olivier Giroud.

Follow us on Facebook