Chelsea vs Brighton: League Cup preview, team news and lineup predictions

Contribution article by Sam Wightwick

Article by Sam Wightwick

With the frustrations from the weekend still very much bubbling away, we must now turn our attentions to the Carabao Cup, which is a competition I feel Chelsea should be taking incredibly seriously this year.

Nobody needs to highlight just how fraught the relationship between Brighton and Chelsea has been over the last year or so. Beginning with our poaching of pretty much the entirety of their first team coaching staff; followed by their Levi Colwill pursuit and our drawn out, excruciatingly painful chase for Moises Caicedo; I think it’s fair to say there seems to be a new shared hatred between both sets of fans. I do predict we will see a fiery encounter on Wednesday night.

In the league, Brighton are flying high in third whilst, as we all know, Chelsea are languishing in 14th. The difference between the two sides is as clear as day at the moment, but this is the cup, and a chance for Mauricio’s men to really spark a change in our season. Of course, every game is a chance to do that at the moment, but if I’m Poch, I’m making it abundantly clear what a win against Brighton could do for us in the long run. This will be our first meeting with Brighton in the League Cup, and surprisingly, it’ll actually only be the 21st time that we’ve played Brighton in our entire history! Four of those were in the FA cup, with us winning 2, drawing 1 and losing the other. This will of course be Brighton’s first game in the competition this season, with us entering in the previous round and squeezing past AFC Wimbledon 2-1.

Team News

Chelsea come into the game still carrying their heavy injury load that has been bogging the club down for months. We will, of course, still be without the long-standing absentees such as Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia, Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana. It has been reported that Carney Chukwuemeka, Benoit Badiashile and Reece James are all nearing a return, however, this game will come too soon for them.

Noni Madueke was pictured in training prior to the weekends defeat to Aston Villa, but was absent from the squad, so I am not sure on his availability for the game but he was once again in full training on Monday. The club’s pre-game injury update should tell us more whenever that gets posted. We also go into the game with Malo Gusto banned after his, in my opinion, unjust red card at the weekend. Nicolas Jackson has also picked up a one match ban, after accumulating 5 yellow cards, meaning he will serve a one match ban. However, yellow card cautions are specific to each competition, and so, he WILL be available to face Brighton on Wednesday.

As a side note, Brighton don’t really have much in the way of injuries, only James Milner and possibly Pascal Gross who is described as being a ‘doubt’ for the game.

My Line-up/Predicted Line-up

This is the line-up that I would go with against Brighton, but it’s also the line-up I would expect Poch to go with, with Conor Gallagher probably playing over Cole Palmer. I can’t see too much rotation if I’m honest, and as you can see from my XI, I don’t think we should either; we should be going pretty much full strength

I’m going with the idea that Madueke is still not fit enough to start but if he is, Raheem Sterling comes out (I thought he was so poor against Villa). Palmer for Gallagher is a change I’ve made based off of the small cameos Palmer has made, and how impressed I’ve been with him in these little spells. We are crying out for some intelligence in the final third; someone who looks after the ball and plays with his head up, Palmer ticks all of those boxes for me.

Mykhailo Mudryk has been a bright spark for us in these last two games for me, he has been central to a lot of the good that we’ve managed to create recently. His off the ball movement does needs work, but I am happy for him to keep his place because at the end of the day; he’s having an influence and needs to play to get better. Although he’s struggled in front of goal, I expect Jackson to continue up front. It’s great to have Armando Broja back and I expect him to get gametime on Wednesday at some stage of the game, but due to him only just returning, I can’t see him starting.

Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are our best midfielders, so the midfield picks itself for me, although I do really like Lesley Ugochukwu and would have no qualms with him starting the game too. Enzo has to play deeper though; he looks so uncomfortable playing, at what is effectively a 10 at times at the weekend; he was the furthest person forward!

The back four is complicated with both our right backs out of this game. Axel Disasi has had experience playing there in the past and did a decent job filling in at the weekend, so I would continue with him there. Now, if Gusto wasn’t banned or Reece wasn’t injured, I would be bringing one of them in and shifting Silva out. I personally think he’s a huge issue in this team and is having a much more negative than positive effect on us as a whole. I get it, he’s a winner and a champion but he knows what he signed up for and flailing your arms around and moaning at your teammates doesn’t help the situation in my opinion. The shift to right back for Disasi should hopefully mean Colwill can play at LCB with Chilwell coming in at left back too.

Again, like the midfield, the goalie picks himself. Robert Sanchez has been our best player in the last two games and made some excellent saves on Sunday, so he keeps his place against his former club. The club does mention that Djordje Petrovic could be in line to make his first start, however, I don’t personally see that happening.

As always, this is only my opinion and I completely welcome and encourage alternative views and ideas, as long as they’re posed respectfully. This is my first contribution to the site and hope to be a regular contributor so any feedback, positive and negative, is also welcomed!

As always, Up The Chels!

Sam Wightwick