Chelsea will return to Premier League action this Saturday when they welcome top six hopefuls Brighton to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues were in Champions League action in midweek, as they were beaten 2-0 by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Despite a fast, positive start to the game, Frank Lampard’s side was undone by two defensive errors, allowing the in-form Karim Benzema to score in the first half before Marco Asensio wrapped up the win late.
The result extended Chelsea’s run of games without a goal to four matches. It was also their fifth game without a win (D2, L3), a follows a weekend loss to Wolves last time out in the league.
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Interim manager Frank Lampard insisted ‘special things can happen at Stamford Bridge’, but that’s not been the case this term whatsoever, as Chelsea have won just one of their last six PL home games (D3, L2), only finding the net in two of those matches. In addition, the Blues have failed to score in the first half in each of their last eight league outings at the Bridge, while another first-half blank would mark their longest run in the PL era.
Meanwhile, Brighton will travel to London desperate to get back to winning ways after suffering their first away PL defeat since October in a 2-1 loss to Tottenham last weekend. They’ve since received another apology from PGMOL for the decisions that went against them in the game, but that will do little to appease them as they will be without head coach Roberto De Zerbi who was sent off for his protestations during the game.
The Seagulls will be missing the Italian from the touchline here as they look to stay in contention for a place in the Europa League next season. However, they will see Chelsea as the perfect opponent as De Zerbi’s first win as Brighton boss came against the Blues.
However, a win here will be their first in London in a while, as they have lost their last three trips to the capital. That should serve as an extra motivation here, as will their desire to stay in the top six race.
And with only three teams in the division earning more points on the road than Brighton (22) this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Seagulls carry away all three points.
Meanwhile, click here to get accurate predictions for today’s game.
