Brighton visit Stamford Bridge this Saturday, as we play our fourth home game in a row. The last three home games have seen two defeats and Wednesday’s victory over Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup; this visit from Brighton could be a great chance for us to get our first home league win of the season. However, there were positive thoughts that a home league win would come against either Leicester, Sheffield United, or Liverpool, so Frank Lampard, Jody Morris et al, will be desperate to bag three points to lift us up the table.
Changes might well be expected again on Saturday, as some of the more experienced players could come back into the fold. That’s not to say that the likes of Reece James, Marc Guehi and Billy Gilmour don’t deserve their places, as the personal experience gave them the confidence that they required to realise their potential against opposition bigger than League Two, Grimsby Town. Tammy Abraham should be back to lead the line this Saturday, although two midweek goals from Michy Batshuayi could give Tammy some competition.
Selection headaches are always good, but priorities have to be put into place and the strongest possible team will be required on Saturday to gain that much needed first home league win. Brighton have selection headaches of their own, Graham Potter has nine players sidelined, although Neal Maupay could come back into the Seagulls squad after a knee injury.
Brighton’s own record during the opening few games of this season hasn’t been the best, although, an opening day 3-0 win away to Watford gave them a fine start to their Premier League campaign. Since then though defeats at home to Southampton and away to Manchester City have rocked their confidence. Their own Carabao Cup campaign ended on Wednesday when they lost at home to Aston Villa 1-3, with Graham Potter giving full debuts to seven academy players.
For Chelsea, Emerson Palmieri will definitely be missing, but there could be a possible return for Andreas Christensen after injuring his knee against Liverpool, however, the injury is only thought to be minor and he could line up next to Kurt Zouma in central defence, as Antonio Rudiger will still be missing.
As yet we haven’t kept a clean sheet this season, but could this be the game where Brighton draw a blank against us? They couldn’t score against Newcastle, who, let’s face it, most teams can score against. If we’re switched on enough, then this could be the clean sheet game; as long as we create, which for the most part, we have been, then I can see us winning either 2-0 or 3-0; you can take your pick there regarding the final score.
