Chelsea v Brighton: Premier League – live!

Romelu Lukaku starting a game is the headline news for Chelsea. He’s one of four changes made by Tuchel. Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen are the respective replacements for injured duo N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva. Marcus Alonso is the other man missing from the side that won 3-1 at Aston Villa. Looks like Callum Hudson-Odoi will fill his left wing-back role.

Brighton fans will be disappointed that the lively Leandro Trossard hasn’t made it following a hamstring injury. Solly March comes in. As expected, Yves Bissouma is back while Joel Veltman gets the nod at centre-back alongside man mountain Dan Burn. So that’s (looks at fingers) three changes made by Graham Potter.

Chelsea: Mendy, James, Rudiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount, Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi, Lukaku
Subs: Kepa, Alonso, Kante, Chalobah, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Havertz, Sarr

Brighton: Sanchez, Lamptey, Veltman, Burn, Cucurella, Bissouma, Lallana, Moder, Mac Allister, March, Maupay
Subs: Steele, Gross, Alzate, Welbeck, Mwepu, Richards, Duffy, Webster, Ferguson

Referee: Mike Dean

Any rush to judgement can make us look foolish. For a few games there, Chelsea were quickly being downgraded from title candidates to mere top four contenders. It was only a matter of time, they said, before Tommy T’s stuttering side would lose touch with the breakaway at the top and be sucked in by the peloton. But with Liverpool dropping five points in the last six and Chelsea returning to winning ways at Aston Villa, victory for the Blues tonight will take them up to second and three clear of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds. In theory, Chelsea could even end the evening just three points behind leaders Manchester City if all the cards fall their way. That seems unlikely though. Pep and co are in action too tonight and no-one really expects anything other than a convincing win at Brentford in the 8.15pm kick-off. You can join Rob Smyth for that one.

As for visitors Brighton, they’re a mass of statistical contradictions. Graham Potter’s men have managed just one more win (five) than Watford (four) and yet have lost only once on the road. They gatecrashed the top four early in the season and then completely lost the ability to win games despite still playing quite well. After a slow drift down the table, the Seagulls flew back to ninth with victory over Brentford last time, their first top-flight win for 12 matches, but they’ll start this one in 11th. If only they had a decent striker, eh; someone who could knock them in on a regular basis? Well, er, they have. Fun fact: Neal Maupay has scored the same number of Premier League goals (seven) as Cristiano Ronaldo this season. Only seven players are above the Frenchman in the Golden Boot charts and, for further comparison, Romelu Lukaku has just four.

Perhaps this is all a long-winded way of saying the smart money is on Maupay grabbing an equaliser in a 1-1 draw. Brighton forced a 0-0 stalemate at Stamford Bridge last season so, y’know, don’t dismiss them lightly. It’s off to Stamford Bridge then. Let battle commence!