Chelsea gave Liverpool a very tough battle last time out and after a midweek slaughter of League Two Grimsby Town in League Cup play the Blues return to the Premier League campaign as they host Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea is still stuck in a big pack of 6 teams all with 8 points and goal differential has them at #11. Brighton is currently clear of the relegation zone with 6 points and all it would take is one victory to get them into the middle of the pack.
Graham Potter has done a nice job since taking over at Brighton even if it hasn’t really shown up in the W/L record. His team has been significantly more competitive and have earned two straight draws in Premier League play. They were seen off in League Cup action last time out, losing 3-1 to Aston Villa but the Premiership remains their primary focus. Interestingly, they’ve played better on the road than at home going 1-1-1 on their travels scoring 3 and conceding 4. They’ve won only 1 of their last 7 in all competitions but that was against a lower level opponent.
Frank Lampard was glad to get the proverbial ‘monkey off his back’ earlier this week and the victory over Grimsby Town represented the first win at Stamford Bridge on his watch. Now the team must get a win in Premier League play and that will give them a focus against Brighton that they might ordinarily not have. Chelsea does have a Champions League game against Lille on deck but that shouldn’t detract from their focus here. Brighton is a scrappy lot that we’ll look to back in the right situation but this isn’t it.
