Chelsea vs Brighton & Hove Albion 04/04/19

4 April 2019

Chelsea’s pursuit of the Champions League promotion continues this midweek as the Blues welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Stamford Bridge.

The hosts come into this meeting after pulling off a stunning comeback against Cardiff City to secure all three points away from home and keep fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur at a one-point distance. Although the Pensioners failed to impress on the road this campaign, they’ve been outstanding at home, securing nine wins in 15 PL home outings (W9, D5, L1). What’s more, Maurizio Sarri’s men are unbeaten in all five of their previous PL home games (W3, D2), keeping three clean sheets, while scoring 2+ match goals three times during the run. Another encouraging fact for the home fans is Chelsea’s 100% success in H2Hs with Brighton since the Seagulls joined the English top flight (W3).

Meanwhile, the visitors’ ups and downs can still cost them the top-flight status as they currently sit just five points clear of 18th-placed Cardiff City although they have one game in hand. However, a poor run of form that has seen them lose six of their previous nine PL fixtures (W2, D1, L6) indicates they will have to come up with something special to avoid another failure here. The Seagulls are far more comfortable at home having secured just 33.33% of their total PL points away from home. Chris Hughton’s men have lost three of their last four PL road clashes (W1, L3) allowing over 1.5 goals per match in each failure. Another potential problem for Brighton is their uninspiring performance in the final third as they reside the sixth-worst attacking road team in the English top tier (15 goals scored in 15 away games).