Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Brighton vs Chelsea in the Premier
League on New Year's Day.
Team news
Brighton have no new injury worries ahead of hosting Chelsea in the Premier
League on January 1.
Midfielder Solly March is still recovering after undergoing groin surgery
earlier this month and, although he was involved in a part of training on
Monday, he remains unavailable.
Colombian winger Jose Izquierdo has not featured for Brighton since April
and continues to recover from a knee injury, with no return date set.
Christian Pulisic could be available for Chelsea's trip to the Amex after a
hamstring problem.
The USA forward missed Sunday's 2-1 Premier League win at Arsenal, but might
be ready for the league clash on the south coast.
Full-backs Marcos Alonso (hamstring) and Reece James (ankle) remain doubtful
after missing the Emirates Stadium victory.
Opta stats
Brighton's only victory in any competition against Chelsea came in the FA
Cup in January 1933 (2-1) - since then they've drawn one and lost 11 of
their 12 meetings.
Chelsea have won all nine of their league meetings with Brighton - the best
such 100% record in English football league history.
Brighton have only lost their first league game of a calendar year in one of
the last 10 years (W6 D3), going down 0-1 at home to Wolves on New Year's
Day in 2016.
This is Chelsea's first Premier League game on New Year's Day since 2015,
when they lost 3-5 at Tottenham under José Mourinho. Indeed, the Blues have
only won their first league game of a calendar year once in the last five
years (D2 L2 - 3-0 vs Crystal Palace in 2016).
1st January 2020 marks exactly 10,000 days since the start of the Premier
League (15th August 1992). 49 clubs have played in the competition, with
Chelsea one of just six to have played in every single season since its
inception (Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham
Hotspur).
A look at some of the key stats surrounding this week's Premier League
action, including Liverpool's game against Sheffield United and Man Utd's
trip to Arsenal.
Brighton have won just one of their 17 Premier League games against sides
starting the day in the top four of the table (D2 L14), losing each of their
last 11 in a row since beating Man Utd 1-0 in May 2018.
Chelsea have won seven of their last nine away Premier League games (L2) -
only Liverpool (25) have more away points than the Blues this season (21).
Brighton have never won a Premier League match in January in eight attempts
(D3 L5) - there are only two instances of teams playing more in a month
without winning; Brighton themselves in April (10) and Hull City in May
(16).
Brighton midfielder Aaron Mooy scored his first Premier League goal since
April in their 2-0 win over Bournemouth, ending a run of 17 games and 17
shots without a goal; the Australian also created five chances in the match,
more than any other player.
Tammy Abraham's 12 Premier League goals have been worth 12 points to Chelsea
so far this season - no other players goals have been more valuable to their
side (level with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sadio Mané).
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
Chelsea have still got a decent amount of quality. They walked away from
Arsenal chuffed to bits, as they never really played well, apart from upping
it for the last 20 minutes.
Frank Lampard changed it and they pushed and pushed. They are getting really
good results - even when they played very well at Manchester City and lost,
the signs were still promising. The way Brighton are performing at home is
really impressive.
We saw a bit of a slip up recently against Sheffield United, but they went
back to basics against Bournemouth and were worthy winners.
Brighton will go after it, while Chelsea's youngsters will be tired - they
had to put a massive shift in at Arsenal to get the win. Brighton are very
good at home, so I cannot separate them.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 2-2 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
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