Callum
Hudson-Odoi could make his first Premier League start when Chelsea host
Brighton on Wednesday, while Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante are likely to
return.
Blues head coach Maurizio Sarri is considering naming England winger
Hudson-Odoi in his starting XI in one of the club's next two fixtures, with
Kante and Hazard expected to come back into the starting XI having been
rested at Cardiff on Sunday.
Left-back Marcos Alonso will miss the visit of the Seagulls due to a
hamstring problem, which will keep him sidelined for a few days.
Brighton boss Chris Hughton is hopeful Florin Andone will be back in his
squad for the trip to Stamford Bridge.
Romania forward Andone has not featured since pulling out in the warm-up at
Crystal Palace on March 9 due to a thigh problem but has returned to
training.
Midfielder Pascal Gross, out since February 26 with a hamstring issue,
remains unavailable.
Opta facts
Chelsea have won all seven of their league games against Brighton - only
Wimbledon against Bournemouth (8/8) have a better 100% win record against an
opponent in English Football League history.
Brighton have lost all four of their away games against Chelsea in all
competitions, failing to score each time.
The Blues have won their last nine games in all competitions against
Brighton, last winning 10 in a row against an opponent vs Bolton between
2008-2014.
Sarri's side have lost just one Premier League home game so far this season
(vs Leicester in December), and have kept six clean sheets in their last
nine at Stamford Bridge.
Brighton won their last away Premier League game (2-1 vs Crystal Palace),
but haven't won consecutive league games on the road since November 2017.
They have lost all nine of their Premier League away games against 'big six'
sides, scoring just two goals in those matches.
Hughton's side have won just one of their 11 midweek Premier League games
(D5 L5), winning 3-1 against Crystal Palace earlier this season.
Eden Hazard has been directly involved in four goals in his last two Premier
League appearances against Brighton, scoring three and assisting another.
Hazard has been directly involved in 14 of Chelsea's 29 Premier League goals
at Stamford Bridge this season (8 goals, 6 assists), twice that of any other
player at the club.
Glenn Murray has scored a Premier League goal on Monday, Tuesday, Friday,
Saturday and Sunday this season. He could become the first player since
Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2016-17 to score on as many as six different days of
the week in a single Premier League campaign.
Merson's predictions
It was a poor result for Brighton at home to Southampton on Saturday. The
fact Cardiff lost was a real stroke of luck, but Chris Hughton and his side
need to be careful.
At Chelsea, I'm not sure about the manager. He's lucky to be in charge. Neil
Warnock can say Cardiff were unlucky, well Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea were
lucky.
With the team he picked he'd have done well to keep his job had they lost at
Cardiff. Then there were the substitutions and the fact Callum Hudson-Odoi
didn't get on. He was very fortunate in the end. Despite all the negativity
they should still have enough to beat Brighton at Stamford Bridge.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0
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