Chelsea claimed a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Cardiff City last time out and now they face an equally as tricky fixture against relegation-battling Brighton.
It took until Ruben Loftus-Cheek's last-minute winner to claim three points against Neil Warnock's side, but it wasn't a pleasant afternoon for Maurizio Sarri in the dugout as he was on the receiving ends of more boos from fans.
Brighton, on the other hand, face the dilemma of prioritising three points again Chelsea in their quest for survival while also optimising their performance in their FA Cup semi-final clash against Manchester City on Saturday.
Chris Houghton will no doubt be fielding his strongest possible team to face the Blues, but with the prospect of a potential FA Cup final looming, the club would be forgiven if they had their mind elsewhere.
The Seagulls have never won the FA Cup, and have only reached the final on one previous occasion back in 1983, so it's a big occasion this weekend for Houghton's men.
Next Match
| Game | Chelsea vs Brighton |
| Date | Wednesday, April 3 |
| Time | 7.45pm GMT / 2.45pm ET |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live on NBC. An online stream for the match is currently unavailable.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| NBC Sports Gold | None |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game does not currently have a UK broadcaster. However, you can follow the match live with Goal HERE .
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| None | None |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Chelsea players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Kepa, Caballero, Bulka |
| Defenders | Rudiger, Alonso, Zappacosta, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta |
| Midfielders | Jorginho, Kante, Hazard, Barkley, Pedro, Loftus-Cheek, Ampadu, Hudson-Odoi, Moses, Willian |
| Forwards | Giroud, Higuain |
Sarri has a full squad to choose from for the upcoming game, with Hazard and Kante likely to slot back into the starting XI after missing out against Cardiff.
Callum Hudson-Odoi remains another option but given the Italian manager's insistence to deny him of a Premier League start, he will likely remain on the bench.
Chelsea XI: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson, Kante, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Hazard, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi
| Position | Brighton squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Ryan, Button, Steele |
| Defenders | Dunk, Duffy, Bruno, Montoya, Bong, Bernardo, Balogun, Burn |
| Midfielders | Bissouma, Propper, Stephens, Kayal, Gross, March, Izquierdo, Knockaert, Jahanbakhsh |
| Forwards | Locadia, Murray, Andone |
Like Sarri, Houghton also has a strong squad to pick from but he remains unlikely to alter the starting XI he has so often implemented this season. Glenn Murray is expected to lead the attack in a rigid 4-5-1 system at Stamford Bridge.
Florin Andone remains a doubt with a groin issue, while Pascal Gross is expected to miss out with a hamstring injury.
Potential Brighton XI: Ryan, Bruno, Dunk, Duffy, Bong, Propper, Stephens, Bissouma, Jahanbakhsh, Andone, March
Betting & Match Odds
Chelsea are the odds-on favourites at 1/4 with bet365 . Brighton are at 14/1 while a draw is priced at 11/2.
Match Preview
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Maurizio Sarri left out Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante in Chelsea's win over Cardiff , and given their laboured performance he may not choose to implement a similar thing here against Brighton with that gamble nearly backfiring.
Both are likely to return to the starting XI to add some much-needed energy to the London team after they let Cardiff - a team who have scored just 28 goals all season - eight attempts on Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Chelsea net.
The Italian manager said after the game he left his two star men out of the line-up against Cardiff to give them some rest, but he will be hoping his team gain a result against Brighton not by being "lucky" like h e admitted there were against Neil Warnock's side.
"Kante has played 50 matches and Hazard 47," said Sarri. "In the last week they played two games for their national teams for 180 minutes so I thought it was time to rest them.
"We were lucky because we gained three points and Hazard played 30 or 35 minutes and Kante zero minutes."
The three points against the Welsh team kept Chelsea in the hunt for top four on 60 points, but dropping points against the Seagulls would put a serious dent in their quest to secure Champions League football.
From a Brighton perspective, they will have been boosted by fellow relegation candidates Cardiff suffering defeat against the Blues, but now they face a similar task themselves.
While they have a five-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone, they face some tricky fixtures between now and the end of the season.
Cardiff exposed some fragilities in Chelsea's side, which Houghton will no doubt be preparing his team to exploit at Stamford Bridge.
However, the Seagulls also face the enticing prospect of reaching a FA Cup final this weekend for the second time in their history.
The south coast side take on high-flyers Manchester City, but it's a chance to make history with the prospect of an FA Cup triumph too obvious to just ignore.
Despite it being an intense period of the season for Brighton, Houghton insisted he's not feeling any extra pressure with the threat of relegation and the prospect of an FA Cup win in their sights.
"It doesn't feel any more pressurised than other periods," Hughton said. "We have never been, looking at where we are in the table, too far away from where we are now.
"We are a team that are still going to have tough games every week. We are not going to be in a position where we can regards ourselves as comfortable.
"We are among a group of teams that are fighting every game and we have to be fighting, if anything, even harder now."
Brighton still have to play Spurs, Arsenal and City in the league this season, so any points against an unpredictable Chelsea team would be a huge result.
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