Brighton & Hove VS Chelsea Match Prediction
2018-12-16
13:30:00
Brighton & Hove
VS
Chelsea
Our Prediction Tip
Chelsea will win this match.
2018-12-1613:30:00 Chelsea will win this match.
Brighton and Chelsea have only played twice before in official competition, with both of those meetings coming in last season’s Premier League. Despite having a down year, Chelsea won both matches. They won 0-4 away in January and also won 2-0 at home in December of last year.
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Bet365 have the following odds available for this match:
Brighton are at 7/1 to win, a draw is at 15/4, and a Chelsea win is at 9/20.
Coming into the weekend, Brighton are sitting in 13th place in the league on 21 points. If you think of the Prem as a three-tier league, they are on the bottom of the second tier. This is because they are a full seven points above Cardiff, who is the ‘leader’ in that relegation pack. Brighton are half way toward staving off relegation, and it’d honestly be a major shock to see them fall at season’s end given their start. A win could theoretically take them as high as seventh, though they’d need a lot of help.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are in fourth place after their win over Manchester City last weekend helped them rebound from the loss to Wolves the week prior. A win might take them above Tottenham for third, but a loss could see them drop out of the top four altogether. Regardless, it looks like they will be in a fight for that place all season long with their London rivals.
At home, Brighton have been very good this term. In seven matches, they have four wins and two draws so far. The lone loss came against Spurs in a 1-2 defeat, and since then they have grabbed three wins and a draw to bounce back very well. Chelsea’s away record has seen them win four times and drawn once in seven outings. Both of their losses have come on the road, though, so the Seagulls might take a little bit of confidence from that fact.
Hazard to score twice or more is at 6.0 odds at Betfair.
Ladbrokes have no on both teams scoring at 4/5 odds.
Chelsea won’t have an easy time of it against the Seagulls, but in the end their quality is just better than that of their hosts. The Blues have the weapons to make the press tell in the end, and they grab all three points.
Chris Hughton only has a couple of men set to miss out on this tough home fixture. Winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who is still yet to make much of an impact at the club, is out with a hamstring injury. But the more pressing worry is that center back Shane Duffy is suspended until the eve of Christmas Eve, leaving them without an important presence at the back.
Glenn Murray isn’t the fastest on his feet, and he’s losing more and more pace as time goes on, but the English striker is still a threat in front of goal, even against the very biggest of teams and has to be respected by the Blues. He’s already registered eight goals this term, a real unsung hero that just plays on without his due recognition. Helping him will be winger Solly March, who has been superb this time with five assists to his name. He’ll have to break from deep, but Chelsea did leave one or two gaps to be exploited at times.
Brighton have two losses, two wins, and a draw in their last five matches:
1-0 loss at Burnley
3-1 home win vs Crystal Palace
1-2 win at Huddersfield
1-1 home draw vs Leicester
2-1 loss at Cardiff
Maurizio Sarri rotated heavily in the Europa League on Thursday having sealed the group, so look for his big guns to reclaim their places in the starting XI here. The only injury worries are to players on the fringes, such as goalkeeper Jamal Blackman, center midfielder Marco van Ginkel, and winger/wingback Victor Moses, so those shouldn’t have much consequence on the outcome.
With his wonderful strike in the draw at Vidi that equalized the game, Olivier Giroud might have forced him way back into the team here. The World Cup winner doesn’t always score goals, but when he does he scored worldies and when he doesn’t he’s often setting up teammates, so it’s a win-win. He’s usually helping lay a foundation for men like Eden Hazard. The Belgian assisted both goals last weekend against City in the win despite being out of his depth in the middle, and he will likely relish a chance to return to his best position once more.
Chelsea have a draw, three wins, and a loss in their last five matches:
2-2 draw at Vidi (UEL)
2-0 home win vs Manchester City
2-1 loss at Wolves
2-0 home win vs Fulham
4-0 home win vs PAOK (UEL)
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