Chelsea clash heads with Brighton on Tuesday at the American Express Community Stadium in order to get back to winning ways after being winless in their last 3 Premier League games. The Blues have fallen behind in the title race after their latest defeat to table-toppers Manchester City which now sees them 13 points behind the defending champions after 22 games. The last fixture against Brighton at home didn’t end well for the Blue as Danny Welbeck scored a stoppage-time equalizer to deny Chelsea all 3 points. Thomas Tuchel will this time hope from his players to turn things around and take all 3 points and return back to winning ways.
3-4-2-1 Chelsea Predicted Lineup Vs Brighton
Defence
Kepa Arrizabalaga will continue in goal for the Blues in the absence of their first-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy who is off to international duty. Kepa will be aiming to put up a strong performance again after his brilliant displays in the last few games.
Chelsea are missing the likes of Andreas Christensen due to Covid-19 and Trevoh Chalobah due to a hamstring injury in the defensive department for this clash. A back 3 of Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger and Malang Sarr is expected to start at the heart of the defence which has looked really strong this season. They will be looking to keep a cleansheet after failing to keep one in the last four Premier League games.
Midfield
Thomas Tuchel is expected to opt for a midfield pair of Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante in the middle of the park. Kante has been instrumental in helping the Chelsea defence as he has covered a lot of ground in the centre of the pitch sweeping away the opposition attacks. Kovacic has been a key to the Blues controlling the tempo of the game with his ability to retain the ball in tight areas and dribble his way out of danger. Both have provided the perfect balance to Tuchel in the centre of the pitch. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Saul Niguez will be on the bench along with Jorginho to give Tuchel options to make changes later in the game.
The absence of Ben Chilwell and Reece James has been an issue for Tuchel as he has options other than Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso to play in the right and left full-back positions.
Attack
It is believed that Tuchel will be making a few tweaks in the front 3 after the defeat to Manchester City at the weekend. Both Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount are expected to come into the starting lineup replacing Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic who will drop to the bench. Kai Havertz is expected to lead the line for the Blues replacing Romelu Lukaku on Tuesday. Timo Werner will also be on the bench and be an option for Thomas Tuchel to bring on in the 2nd half trying to inject some pace into the game.
