Premier League: Chelsea and Brighton are Both Feeling the Injury Blues

Chelsea vs Brighton & Hove Albion

This weekend, Chelsea and Brighton, two Premier League sides severely impacted by the injury bug, will square off at Stamford Bridge.

According to the Premier League 2023 updates, the Blues and the Seagulls could be without around 20 first-team players combined, which certainly gives both Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi selection headaches.

But Chelsea should have fresher legs compared to Brighton because they don’t have European football this season.

The hosts, though, are coming off a humiliating loss against Newcastle United on Saturday, while the visitors managed to scrape off back-to-back victories against Nottingham Forest (3-2) on Saturday and AEK Athens (1-0) on Thursday night.

The pre-game SBOTOP betting odds favour Chelsea to win at home, but Brighton have had better results lately, and they are eighth in the table compared to 10^th for Chelsea.

Talking Points

Sterling provides hope amid Chelsea’s woes

Raheem Sterling has been a rare bright spot for Chelsea. He is one of the nominees for the Premier League Player of the Month award because he is a major reason why the Blues picked up four points in the month of November.

After scoring the game-sealing goal against Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup Round of 16 to start the month, Sterling recorded an assist in their 4-1 demolition of Tottenham before scoring one goal each in their 4-4 draw against Manchester City and in their 4-1 loss against Newcastle United last time out.

Sterling is the first Chelsea player to earn a POTM nomination since Kepa Arrizabalaga last November and the first non-goalkeeper since Mason Mount almost two years ago.

He should continue to start on the left wing for the Blues, and he’ll join the likes of Cole Palmer and top scorer Nicolas Jackson up front.

Sterling and co. will have to do the heavy lifting because, as of this writing, Chelsea notable injuries include Malo Gusto, Ben Chilwell, Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Carney Chukwuemeka, Romeo Lavia, and Marcus Bettinelli, while Marc Cucurella and Reece James will have to serve their suspensions after being booked these past few weeks.

Brighton are shorthanded too

Brighton also have an extensive absentee list like Chelsea, with the likes of Adam Webster, Pervis Estupinan, James Milner, Solly March, Danny Welbeck, Julio Enciso, Ansu Fati, and Tariq Lamptey all nursing injuries.

And there are two more players who won’t make it to Stamford Bridge this weekend, as Lewis Dunk and Mahmoud Dahoud are set to serve their league suspensions.

The loss of Dunk in particular is a big blow since he turned in a Man of the Match-worthy performance in the Europa League last night. The Seagulls were far from their best against AEK Athens, but he made sure that they secured the clean sheet with his massive presence at the back.

Moreover, Brighton’s offencive cudgels will fall on the broad shoulders of Joao Pedro and Evan Ferguson, who have combined for 15 goals so far this season.

History

Sunday marks the second meeting between Chelsea and Brighton this season. These two sides last met in the third round of the EFL Cup in September, where the Blues came away with a narrow 1-0 win, courtesy of Nicolas Jackson’s second-half goal.

Brighton have failed to score in eight of their 10 away matches against Chelsea across all competitions, and they are one of only four sides who have yet to keep a Premier League clean sheet this campaign.

The Seagulls could become just the sixth top-flight side ever to score and concede in their first 14 matches in a season and the first since Wolves back in 1934-35.

But in the Premier League, after having won 10 of their first 11 matchups, Chelsea haven’t won in their last five games against Brighton (D3, L2), including back-to-back losses last term via an aggregate tally of 6-2.

Betting Tip

As mentioned, the Premier League 2023 odds back Chelsea to win at home since they are priced to win at 1.72, while Brighton are at 3.80 odds, and a draw is at 3.90 in the 1X2 market.

If both sides have a full squad this weekend, we’d argue that Brighton should be the favourites. However, that’s not the case, so predicting the winner is going to be a tough call.

Based on their recent encounters, Total Goals 2-3 at 2.09 seems to be the safest bet, while Correct Score 1-0 in favour of Chelsea might give you something to think about since it has a generous offer of 9.00.

 

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