Chelsea host Brighton with a chance to secure sole possession of second place in the Premier League after tumbling out of the top spot due to a mixture of injuries and losing players to COVID-19. Brighton will look to get their form back on track too as they've gone from contending for a European spot down to 11th in the league. While the standings don't tell the full story in the league at the moment due to the different number of games played for each team, Brighton needing to jump five teams for sixth place is a lot.
Here are storylines, how you can watch the match, and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday, Dec. 30 | Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Stamford Bridge -- London, England
- Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Chelsea -240; Draw +340; Brighton +750 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Storylines
Chelsea: The Blues are beginning to get players back from injury as Mateo Kovacic and Romelu Lukaku were introduced from the bench during their victory over Aston Villa, but it will take time for everyone to reach full fitness. Officially losing Ben Chilwell for the season, as he will need surgery for his ACL injury, could push Chelsea into the transfer market for a left back due to the performances of Marcos Alonso but he'll likely need to contribute in this match. Cutting out the defensive mistakes will be important as it is hard to put the ball in the net past Brighton.
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Brighton: Graham Potter likely won't have a full strength squad available as Leandro Trossard is touch and go but Shane Duffy will be back from his suspension due to yellow card accumulation. While Brighton has only played four matches during the month of December, the sputtering pace that matches have gone at has made it hard for them to regain momentum heading into a tough clash. A boxing day victory over Brentford should give the Seagulls confidence heading into this match, but they can't put a foot wrong looking to see off Chelsea.
Prediction
Tired legs will see the points shared as Neal Maupay keeps his clutch scoring going to rescue a point for Brighton. Pick: Chelsea 1, Brighton 1
