With a place in next season’s Europa League within reach, Brighton & Hove Albion look to add three more points to their Premier League total on Saturday at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, who sit in mid-table ahead of the match.
Brighton & Hove Albion are in seventh place on 46 points, while Chelsea are placed 11th on 39 points. With nine matches to play, the Seagulls trail fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur by seven points for a spot in the Europa League. The Blues are 14 points outside of the tournament spot.
Chelsea will be without centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly for their Premier League game against Brighton, Frank Lampard has confirmed.
The Senegal international started in a back three in the Blues’ Champions League defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday. Koulibaly seemed to sustain the injury after denying Rodrygo and was replaced by Marc Cucurella in the 55th minute.
Lampard will now be without the defender for the game with Brighton and second-leg with Madrid on Tuesday. “No, he won’t be available for either game.
“A hamstring injury, it will be a matter of weeks rather than days,” Lampard said on Friday. “He’s a very good, very experienced player. Albeit, people talk a lot about our squad but when you work and sometimes you haven’t got lots of cover and the Champions League squad is different to the Premier League squad.
“It’s a disappointment for him and for us, but opportunity and we carry on without him. Hopefully, he gets fit as quick as he can.”
Koulibaly’s confirmed absence means Lampard will be without only three players of his squad – a significant difference to the injury list Graham Potter was forced to deal with.
Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante both started in Madrid in midweek and are in contention to feature once again at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Raheem Sterling only lasted 65 minutes in the Spanish capital.
Brighton & Hove Albion suffered a 2-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in their last league match to snap a five-match unbeaten streak. Chelsea also lost their last Premier League match 1-0 at Molineux Stadium against Wolverhampton Wanderers, extending their winless streak to four (W0 D2 L2).
When the two sides last met in Premier League action, Brighton came out on top 4-1 at The American Express Community Stadium in October. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring for the Seagulls in the fifth minute. Pascal Groß also was on target. Kai Havertz scored the lone goal for the Blues in the 48th minute.
Brighton have got the better of Chelsea of late, unbeaten in their last four Premier League matches (W1 D3 L0). Chelsea are looking for their first league win in fixtures between the two sides since September 2020. The Seagulls have outscored the Blues 6-3 during their unbeaten streak.
Delving into the stats for the season, Brighton & Hove Albion’s leading attacking threats have been Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma, and Solly March, who have netted eight, seven, and six times, respectively.
In the final third, Havertz has been a key player for Chelsea this season. He leads the club with seven goals, three of which have been the tone-setting first of the match.
Hosts Chelsea have six wins, five draws, and four losses this season in 15 Premier League contests at home. The Blues have a three-match home winless streak (W0 D2 L1) dating to March 18 against Everton. In league matches on the road this season, Brighton have six wins, four draws, and four losses.
In their last six league matches, Chelsea have won two, drawn two and lost two. Brighton, meanwhile, have won three, drawn two and lost one in their last six.
Elsewhere, Chelsea will continue to be without Armando Broja and Cesar Azpilicueta, the former a long-term absentee and the latter last seen on February 18.
