Chelsea head to Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend amidst plenty of off-the-pitch controversy and problems. The issues are not with the players and coaches of course, but the supporters. Alleged anti-Semitic chants at Vidi in the Europa League clash on Thursday night have opened up an investigation that could result in sanctioning against Chelsea FC.
And this development comes just four days after a Chelsea supporter racially abused Raheem Sterling at Stamford Bridge last Saturday. The west London side badly needs the narrative surrounding the club to shift back to on-the-pitch, and that’s where it would have been had these incidents not occurred.
The last time Chelsea played in Premier League competition they handed Manchester City their first domestic loss of the season. Thus, they will be heavily favored to beat Brighton and rightfully so. Let’s take a look at the fitness situation for both sides.
Starting with the host Seagulls, Jose Izquierdo (knee) and Alireza Jahanbakhsh (hamstring) are doubtful while Shane Duffy will be missing as he serves the second of his three match suspension.
Flipping over to the visitors, Mateo Kovacic (ankle) is a doubt while Dan Cahill (knock), Victor Moses and Alvaro Morata (knee) are all out injured.
Chelsea vs Brighton FYIs
Kick-off: 1:30 pm (BST), 8:30 am (EST), Sunday December 16th, Amex Stadium
Odds: Chelsea 2/5, Draw 10/3, Brighton 7/1
Form guide: Chelsea- WDLWLW Brighton- LLDWWL
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 67%, Draw 21%, Brighton 12%
Prediction: Chelsea 3, Brighton 0
Feel free to post your own starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be. Enjoy the match everybody!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.