Liam Rosenior’s floundering Chelsea travel to the south coast to take on Brighton & Hove Albion in the hopes of halting their recent free fall down the Premier League table.
The Blues have lost their way under Rosenior’s leadership and will take on Brighton on the back of four consecutive Premier League defeats, culminating in a recent 1-0 loss to Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Brighton will host their London counterparts on the back of a four-match unbeaten streak.
The Seagulls will fancy their chances of stretching their impressive run even further, considering that [Chelsea’s latest fixtures and results](https://www.flashscore.co.uk/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/) have been nothing to write home about.
### Match Preview
Brighton couldn’t have picked a better time to kick-start a resurgence as Fabian Hurzeler’s side ramp up their quest to secure European football.
Since snapping an appalling six-match winless streak in the Premier League (D3, L3) with a 2-0 win against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium, the Seagulls have been on an upward trajectory.
Hurzeler’s side have been in fantastic form since they were torn apart by Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round, with the Reds claiming a thumping 3-0 victory at Anfield.
However, only Arsenal have managed to get the better of the Seagulls since, with the hosts winning five out of seven league games (D1, L1).
That narrow 1-0 home defeat against Arsenal proved to be the catalyst for a subsequent three-game winning streak that included a revenge-claiming 2-1 victory over Liverpool.
Brighton failed to keep that run going when they visited Tottenham Hotspur in North London as their former manager, Roberto De Zerbi, claimed a point against his former employers.
However, Brighton will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways when Chelsea come knocking, given their impressive record against the Blues.
Brighton have come out on top in their last two meetings with Chelsea and have lost just one of their last four games against the Blues (W2, D1).
Meanwhile, Chelsea can’t seem to get it together long enough to pick up a win, with the Blues now winless in four consecutive Premier League games.
Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against United was the latest in a long line of horrendous performances that have all but ended Chelsea’s hopes of securing Champions League football.
Matheus Cunha’s well-taken strike from a Bruno Fernandes cutback on the stroke of half-time was enough to condemn Chelsea to back-to-back defeats following their previous humiliation at home to Manchester City.
That defeat stretched their winless streak on home turf to five games (D2, L3) and also marked their sixth defeat in their last seven games (W1).
Their only victory in that disastrous run of form came against League One opponent Port Vale in the FA Cup, with the Blues flexing their muscle in a riotous 7-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
As if losing four consecutive games wasn’t enough, Chelsea have also managed just one win from their last eight league games (D2, L5), beating Aston Villa 4-1 in Birmingham.
At the moment, Rosenior still retains the faith of the club hierarchy but a fifth consecutive defeat could spell the end of his ill-fated tenure in West London.
### Team News
Brighton are sweating over the fitness of Diego Gomez and Kaoru Mitoma who were forced off injured against Tottenham.
On the bright side, they could welcome Lewis Dunk back in the starting line-up after the Englishman missed the Tottenham trip due to a one-match suspension.
Meanwhile, Chelsea added Estevao and Enzo Fernandez to their long list of absentees, with both players coming off injured in the defeat to United.
The Blues were already missing Reece James, Levi Colwill, and Jamie Gittens.
### Brighton & Hove Albion potential line-ups:
**(4-2-3-1):** Bart Verbruggen; Ferdi Kadioglu, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Mats Wieffer; Pascal Gross, Yasin Ayari; Kaoru Mitoma, Jack Hinshelwood, Yankuba Minteh; Danny Welbeck.
### Chelsea potential line-ups:
**(4-2-3-1):** Robert Sanchez; Malo Gusto, Jorrel Hato, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella; Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Alejandro Garnacho, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto; Liam Delap.