Chelsea vs Brighton LIVE: Premier League team news, line-ups and more tonight
Follow all the action as Chelsea host Brighton in the Premier League tonight at Stamford Bridge. The introduction of second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku inspired Chelsea to claim a vital win after falling behind at Aston Villa on Boxing Day and Thomas Tuchel’s side know that they cannot afford any more slip-ups if they are to keep pace with Manchester City in the title race.
Liverpool’s defeat at Leicester last night means the Blues can move above Jurgen Klopp’s side into second with a win, ahead of the meeting between the two teams on Sunday. City, meanwhile, are closing in on a 10th consecutive victory and face Brentford away from home this evening as they look to maintain their six-point lead at the the top of the table.
Brighton ended their 11-match run without a win as they defeated Brentford 2-0 on Boxing Day thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard and Neal Maupay. The Seagulls secured a 0-0 draw on their visit to Stamford Bridge last season but are yet to defeat Chelsea in any of their eight attempts since returning to the Premier League. Follow live coverage of Chelsea vs Brighton below, plus updates from the later match between Manchester City and Brentford.
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Chelsea vs Brighton
The players are in the tunnel at Stamford Bridge – we’re moments away from kick-off in these two teams final matches of 2021.
Chelsea vs Brighton
Brighton manager Graham Potter, speaking to Amazon Video: “It’s nice to get a win. It’s been frustrating for us, there have been a lot of draws, not too many defeats but not enough wins, so it was nice to win against Brentford.
“[Trossard] had a really strong half against Brentford and it really affected our team performance after he went off, but that’s life, especially at this time of the year. It’s someone else’s opportunity.
“Sometimes it’s a fine line between scoring and not. Neal [Maupay] has kept working, sometimes they go in. Chelsea are champions of Europe – they’ve invested a lot in their team and are competing at the top of the league.”
Brentford vs Man City: Team news
Brentford: Fernandez; Pinnock, Jansson, Bech; Roerslev, Baptiste, Onyeka, Jensen, Thompson; Toney, Wissa
Man City: Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Ake; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Bernardo; Foden, Jesus, Grealish
Chelsea vs Brighton
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, speaking to Amazon Video:
“Results and wins help like nothing else. It brings back belief and energy if you struggle with bad results. We weren’t happy with the results before that but I think we had the right to stay confident with what we do. Full credit to the guys. They are always spot-on in terms of mentality and attitude. This is what we need to do again today.
“The circumstances are the problem. The fixtures are not the problem. Players are used to it, players love it, this is what they do. To play all the time is not the problem. If you miss players for weeks and then have the uncertainty of Covid, this causes trouble and uncertainty, and concern. This is what we have to deal with.
“It’s too early to say [that Lukaku is back to his best] but he will be back to his best at some point. He hasn’t started since October for us. His intensity and work rate was on the highest level [against Villa].”
Chelsea vs Brighton
Graham Potter described the feeling of Brighton ending their 11-match winless run as “fantastic” – but added that his side must now build on what has been a positive start to the season overall.
“As has been pointed out, it’s been quite a while,” Potter said. “Whilst we have been picking up points, that was important for us tonight. We’re on the back of a little run that we’re frustrated with, which isn’t very nice and to win was fantastic, really pleased for the boys.
“We’ve only lost three in that run, we’ve had a lot of draws and we’ve had a lot of positive performances. But the narrative is the narrative and you have to deal with it. At the moment, we’re on 23 points and that’s not a bad return.”
Brentford vs Man City: Team news
Brentford have a number of injury concerns, with Kristoffer Ajer, Rico Henry, David Raya, Mathias Jorgensen, Charlie Goode, Vitaly Janelt, Bryan Mbeumo and Joshua Dasilva all either doubtful or ruled out. Christian Norgaard is also out due to suspension.
Rodri, Kyle Walker and John Stones were all missing for the Boxing Day win over Leicester but could return here. Guardiola is certain to make changes, with Phil Foden and Jack Grealish potentially in line for a recall.
Predicted line-ups
Brentford: Fernandez; Pinnock, Jansson, Sorensen; Canos, Jensen, Onyeka, Ghoddos, Thompson; Wissa, Toney
Man City: Ederson; Cancelo, Laporte, Dias, Zinchenko; Fernandinho, Gundogan, Bernardo; Foden, Grealish, Jesus
Chelsea vs Brighton
Seventy days. That’s how long it has been since Romelu Lukaku has started a match for Chelsea. The injury he suffered during that 4-0 win over Malmo in the Champions League – and his subsequent positive Covid-19 test – have seen him out since then. Chelsea have done well at times in his absence, with some of their best attacking performances of the season coming in that time, but Lukaku’s return undoubtedly lifted Thomas Tuchel’s side in the second half against Aston Villa – and the striker could kick-start their season following their blip earlier this month.
Chelsea vs Brighton: Team news
Meanwhile, Brighton make three changes with Joel Veltman, Yves Bissouma and Solly March coming for Adam Webster, Enock Mwepu and the injured Leandro Trossard.
It looks like Veltman could play alongside Dan Burn in the heart of Brighton’s defence, but there could be a change of system at play too.
Chelsea vs Brighton: Team news
Chelsea make four changes from their win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day. The key one is that Romelu Lukaku starts his first match for Chelsea since October 20th following his impressive second-half display at Villa Park. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic keep their places, but one will start at left-back as Marcos Alonso drops out. N’Golo Kante, Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah also make way and are replaced by Mateo Kovacic, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azplicaceuta. Kai Havertz is back amongst the substitutes.
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