It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, made by Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri when he picks his first team for his side’s next match, at home against Brighton & Hove Albion. Sarri left Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante and Callum Hudson-Odoi out of his initial XI, angering Chelsea fans worldwide.
This decision probably also had a lot to do with why and how Chelsea fell behind, and found themselves trailing until very late in the match. It’s easy to see why Hudson-Odoi still wants out, and how a move to Bayern Munich would be good for him- because he’s just not getting time here.
We’re going to go out on a limb and include CHO in our first team prediction here. We’re also including another seldom-used and hyphenated named player, the midfielder with chronic back problems, Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Given how he bailed out Chelsea yesterday by scoring the game-winner, we believe that deserves a first team assignment.
The Bank Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction vs Brighton & Hove Albion FC
Attack: Eden Hazard, Gonzalo Higuain, Callum Hudson-Odoi
Midfield: Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante
Defense: Emerson Palmieri, David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta
Goalkeeper: Kepa
Chelsea FC vs Brighton & Hove Albion FYIs
Kickoff: April 3, 7:45pm GMT, Stamford Bridge
Match preview, team news: go to this link
Form Guide: Chelsea WLDWW Brighton LWWLL
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 76%, Draw 17%, Brighton win 7%
Odds via Odds Checker: Chelsea 2/7, Draw 11/2, Brighton 27/2
Prediction: Chelsea 0, Brighton 0
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.
