Chelsea - Stamford Bridge
Four key absences are already shaping Xabi Alonso‘s thinking ahead of Sunday’s Premier League visit of Brighton & Hove Albion to Stamford Bridge, with kick-off set for 13:00 UTC on August 30, 2026. Enzo Fernández, Jordan Henderson, Marco Palestra, and Moisés Caicedo all miss out, which strips Chelsea of a significant chunk of their midfield depth going into a match they will desperately want to win on home turf.
Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs Brighton: How Alonso Could Set Up on Sunday
Robert Sánchez starts in goal, as expected. The back three pick itself on current form. Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill occupy the wide centre-back roles, with Maxence Lacroix slotting in at the heart of that defensive unit. The three of them have shown a solid enough understanding positionally, and Alonso appears to trust that combination when the squad is at full strength.
Malo Gusto gets the nod at right wing-back, while Jorrel Hato takes the left side. Both are well-suited to a system that demands constant overlapping runs and defensive discipline in equal measure.
The midfield double pivot of Reece James and Roméo Lavia sits just ahead of that back line, with Lavia’s energy and James’s leadership covering a lot of ground between them. Chelsea Predicted Lineup discussions this week kept returning to that pairing as the critical axis in the absence of Caicedo and Fernández.
The attacking shape sees Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers operating just behind the lone striker. Palmer’s creativity from those zones has been one of the brighter elements of Chelsea’s season so far, and Rogers gives them pace and directness on the other side. João Pedro leads the line as the central striker, an interesting choice against a Brighton side that will know his strengths well from his time in the Premier League before this move.
Brighton arrive with injury problems of their own. Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma, Evan Ferguson, Stefanos Tzimas, Yankuba Minteh, and Jack Hinshelwood are all unavailable. That’s a brutal list for Fabian Hürzeler to deal with, and it leaves Brighton looking considerably thinner in attack than they would want against a Chelsea side that defend deep and hits on the counter.