Brightonvs.Chelsea

The visitors will travel back down to the South Coast with revenge at the forefront of their minds after falling to a narrow defeat in Saturday's cup clash.

Match preview

Brighton received a much-needed confidence boost from their recent meeting with Chelsea after they went into the fourth-round tie off the back of consecutive Premier League defeats, including a demoralising 7-0 loss against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Fabian Hurzeler would have been concerned that his team were in form another difficult outing when a Bart Verbruggen error handed Chelsea a fifth-minute lead at the Amex Stadium, but fortunately for the goalkeeper, Georginio Rutter quickly levelled the scoreline, before Kaoru Mitoma scored a second-half winner to end a four-game losing run in competitive meetings with Chelsea.

Brighton can look forward to making their third consecutive fifth-round appearance, with the Seagulls set to face Newcastle United at St James' Park later this month for a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Before then, Brighton will focus on a rematch with Chelsea as well as games against Bournemouth and Southampton, knowing they need to embark on a positive run of results if they are to qualify for European competition for the second time in three seasons.

The 10th-placed side have recorded just two victories across their previous 12 top-flight matches (D6, L4) - a significant contrast to the opening few months of the season where they won six, drew four and lost just two of their first 12 Premier League games.

While they may have beaten Chelsea at the Amex Stadium in the cup, they will head into Friday's fixture without a win in five consecutive home league matches since they beat Man City 2-1 in November.

Chelsea will focus on the Premier League and Conference League for the remainder of the season after their FA Cup campaign came to a disappointing end in Saturday's trip to the Amex Stadium, quashing their hopes of winning the competition for the first time since 2017-18.

Realistically, Enzo Maresca will have to go all the way in the Conference League if his to win a trophy in his first season in the Stamford Bridge dugout.

First and foremost, Chelsea will continue their Champions League qualification bid in Friday's rematch against Brighton, with the visitors sitting in fourth place in the Premier League table and just two points clear of Manchester City and Newcastle United in fifth and sixth position respectively.

If they are to hold on to a top-four spot, the Blues will have to improve on their travels, having failed to win any of their last four Premier League away matches since they prevailed in a seven-goal thriller against Tottenham Hotspur on December 8.

They will be aware that it will be tricky to end that winless run in Friday's fixture, having failed to win three of their previous away meetings with Brighton, although they did pick up a 2-1 win in their most recent Premier League meeting at the Amex Stadium in May 2024.

The visitors do have the chance to complete league double over Brighton for the second season in a row after Cole Palmer produced a match-winning display in the reverse fixture, netting all four of Chelsea's goals in a 4-2 victory at Stamford Bridge in September.

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

D

D

W

W

L

L

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

W

W

W

L

L

W

Chelsea Premier League form:

L

D

D

W

L

W

Chelsea form (all competitions):

W

D

W

L

W

L

Team News

The hosts are unable to call upon the services of Jason Steele (shoulder), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), Igor Julio (hamstring), James Milner (hamstring), and Solly March (muscle), although the latter is believed to be closing in on a return to action.

Pervis Estupinan (muscle) and Mats Wieffer (knee) were not ready to feature in Saturday's cup tie, and it remains seen whether they can prove their fitness in time for Friday's rematch.

Lewis Dunk will have to be assessed by Brighton's medical staff after being forced off at half time in the fourth-round tie with a rib injury, and his potential absence could present Adam Webster with a starting opportunity.

Winter addition Diego Gomez is pushing for his first start after impressing during his substitute appearance last weekend, while Joao Pedro could come back into the lineup for the Premier League clash.

As for the visitors, they remain without the injured quartet of Wesley Fofana (hamstring), Benoit Badiashile (thigh), Romeo Lavia (muscle), Omari Kellyman (hamstring) and Marc Guiu (groin).

Winger Mykhaylo Mudryk is serving a provisional doping ban after it was revealed in December that he had tested positive for the prohibited substance meldonium.

Reece James is set to return to the side after he was left out of Saturday's squad with the aim of managing his workload, while Nicolas Jackson is hoping to shake off a hamstring issue which forced him to miss the fourth-round tie.

Filip Jorgensen, Levi Colwill, Enzo Fernandez and Noni Madueke are all pushing for recalls after dropping down to the bench at the weekend.

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Webster, Lamptey; Hinshelwood, Baleba, Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Pedro

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Jorgensen; James, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madeuke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson

We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Chelsea

Written by

Ben Sully

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