Premier League: Brighton x Chelsea, Match Preview, Odds and Predictions(15/05/2024)

On Wednesday night, Chelsea will go to Brighton, knowing they want to finish in the Premier League's top six.

The Blues are now tied for sixth position with sixth-place Newcastle after Saturday's comeback victory at Nottingham Forest. Newcastle had been held to a home draw earlier in the day by the Seagulls.

Chelsea will need at least a win on the south coast to keep in the hunt, making it four consecutive victories for the club.

Manchester United and Newcastle are hunting for a Europa League spot, so a win for either team would significantly boost their chances. In their pursuit of a top-half finish, Brighton is attempting to cling.

Head To Head And Previous Matches

Chelsea had another disappointing season, but they still had a chance to finish well. With eight victories and five draws in sixteen games played so far in 2024, the reigning Premier League champions have amassed 29 points, tied for the most wins by a team in the league with Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool. This is the first four-game winning streak for the Blues since October 2022, and they have won seven of their previous five league games.

A significant contributor to Chelsea's recent success is Nicolas Jackson, who scored four goals and assisted on one in his past three Premier League games, matching his total from his eleven appearances in the league (three goals and two assists). His 14 league goals this season (all without using penalties) put him in line to become the first Blues player to achieve 15 goals in a Premier League season (excluding penalties) since Tammy Abraham in 2019–20.

Not only that, but Cole Palmer, Chelsea's most valued player, has also been instrumental. Three Chelsea players have had more goal involvements in a single season than the would-be regular England international this season. Didier Drogbaink in 2000-01 had 32 goals and nine assists, Frank Lampard in 2009-10 had 36 goals and fourteen assists, and the would-be regular this season has 31 goals and ten assists.

On the other hand, Brighton has gone 11 games without scoring in the Premier League, which is longer than any other team in the league. Their previous longest streak without scoring in a league game was 12 games from March to August 2015, and their longest streak in a single season was 15 games from September to December 2004 in 2004–05.

Beighton x Chelsea Team News

Brighton is still worried about the health of loanee Ansu Fati, Jan Paul van Hecke, Joao Pedro, and Julio Enciso. After sitting out with an injury, Tariq Lamptey returned to the game.

Reece James, who had been on the bench for five months, returned to the starting lineup for Chelsea's stunning win against Forest. The skipper's track record of injuries means he won't start midweek, but right-back Malo Gusto might start instead.

Nicolas Jackson scored against the City Ground and should maintain his starting position, although Christopher Nkunku is still working on getting healthy after many injuries. Raheem Sterling will be eager to get the starting nod after his score.

Our Predictions

Over 2.5 goals @1.40 on Sky247.ng

One reason Brighton hasn't been as good as last season—when they made it to Europe for the first time in their history—is that they can't defend. The Seagulls have let in more goals than six of the top six teams, and they have only kept one clean sheet in their last six games.

When the season started, Chelsea had trouble turning their chances into goals. Lately, though, we haven't seen any of that. Mauricio Pochettino's team has scored two or more goals in ten of their last eleven Premier League games. At least three goals were scored in as many games.

Nicolas Jackson to score anytime @2.60 on Sky247.ng

Nicolas Jackson, a striker, is now experiencing a brief purple patch of form in the latter days of the season, even though he is receiving criticism for finishing this season.

The Senegalese international scored four goals and provided assistance throughout the last three matches. The 22-year-old player also provided an assist in the game that was played back in December. He should be able to find himself in auspicious situations on Wednesday.

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