Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Brighton vs Chelsea in the Premier
League on Tuesday; kick-off 8pm.
Team news
Brighton duo Shane Duffy and Adam Lallana are major doubts for Tuesday's
Premier League clash with Chelsea due to respective ankle and hamstring
injuries.
Captain Lewis Dunk is closing in on a return from a knee problem but will
not be involved, while midfielders Enock Mwepu (hamstring) and Yves Bissouma
(Africa Cup of Nations) also remain unavailable.
Full-back Tariq Lamptey is fit to take on his former club after a slight
groin issue restricted him to a second-half cameo during Friday's 1-1 draw
with Crystal Palace.
Andreas Christensen will miss out again for Chelsea due to coronavirus
isolation.
Trevoh Chalobah remains sidelined with a thigh problem, with Reece James a
longer-term absentee due to a hamstring injury.
Ben Chilwell is out for the season after knee surgery, with Edouard Mendy at
the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
Jones Knows
Backing a positive Brighton-based bet when Graham Potter's men play one of
the elite teams is a staple of my betting diet. Although their record in the
traditional match results markets is pretty ropey, hence why I'm happy to
side with Chelsea, you can always rely on them to outperform their lines
when it comes to various other markets due to their forward-thinking,
possession-based style that does afford them a huge amount of territory even
against the Champions League sides.
For this encounter, my eyes have wandered to the corners market where the
11/4 with Sky Bet for Brighton to win the most corners is begging to be
backed.
When looking at their corner data at the Amex Stadium in 2011, Brighton have
averaged 6.43 corners per 90 minutes and concede an average of 3.95 per 90
minutes. This includes winning the corner race against Arsenal, Tottenham
and in both of their home fixtures with Manchester City.
Thomas Tuchel's team are missing the influence of Ben Chilwell and Reece
James down both flanks and just like they did in the reverse fixture at
Stamford Bridge, Brighton will surely be trying to get Tariq Lamptey and
Marc Cucurella into the spaces down the channels to force corner-winning
situations.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-2
BETTING ANGLE: Brighton to have more corners than Chelsea (11/4 with Sky
Bet)
Opta facts
● Brighton have drawn their last two league games against Chelsea, picking
up more points from these two games than they had in their first 11 league
meetings with the Blues (D1 L10).
● Chelsea have never lost in 13 league meetings with Brighton (W10 D3) - it
is the most the Blues have faced an opponent without ever losing in their
league history.
● Brighton have never led in nine Premier League meetings with Chelsea. In
the competition's history, only two sides have faced an opponent more
without leading for a single minute - Sheffield United against Manchester
City (10) and Portsmouth against Chelsea (14).
● Brighton have had more shots than Chelsea in each of the last three
Premier League meetings between the sides. Since we have detailed shot data
(2003-04), Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United are the only
teams to have outshot Chelsea in 4+ consecutive meetings in the competition.
● Chelsea have scored in all nine of their away games against Brighton in
all competitions. Only Wigan (11) have they faced more often on the road
while scoring in every game.
● Brighton have won just two of their 14 Premier League games played on a
Tuesday (D4 L8), with those victories coming against Crystal Palace in
December 2018 (3-1) and Manchester City in May 2021 (3-2).
● Chelsea have lost their last two away league games played on Tuesdays,
against Wolves and Leicester City last season. The Blues had only lost two
of their last 21 such games before this (W11 D8).
● Only the current top three sides of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea
have lost fewer Premier League games than Brighton so far this term (4).
However, the Seagulls have drawn more games than any other side this season,
with their 10 draws the most recorded by a team 20 games into a Premier
League campaign since Sunderland in 2014-15 (11).
● Chelsea are winless in their last three Premier League games (D2 L1),
their longest such run under Thomas Tuchel. The Blues lost 1-0 at Man City
last time out, but haven't gone consecutive away league games without a goal
since May/August 2019.
● Brighton have scored seven goals in the final 10 minutes of games in the
Premier League this season - in no other campaign have they netted more in
this timeframe. These goals have been worth seven points to the Seagulls,
and on all seven occasions it's been their only goal of the game.
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