Notable figures
Chelsea will travel to Amex Stadium to face Brighton, in the second match between the two teams in less than a week.
Last week, Brighton came from behind to win 2-1 against Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Cup, thanks to goals from Georginio Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma.
That means Chelsea's real hope for a title this season depends only on the Europa Conference League. They are currently 4th in the Premier League but far behind leaders Liverpool.
Chelsea are in poor form ahead of the Brighton clash, having won just three of their last 10 games in all competitions. That forced them to compete effectively for a place in the Champions League with teams like Man City and Newcastle. This means that any next mistake could cost Chelsea dearly.
Chelsea are on their longest away winless streak in the Premier League (2 draws, 2 losses), having gone 4 matches without a win since defeating Tottenham 4-3 in early December 2024.
The Blues (called Chelsea) have scored an average of 2.9 goals per game in their first eight away games of the season, but have only scored 0.5 goals per game in a run of four games without a win.
However, Chelsea still have other statistics for hope. Enzo Maresca's side have won seven games after falling behind this season, behind only Liverpool.
Chelsea have won 2 of their last 3 Premier League games when they were behind in the first half (against Tottenham and West Ham), as many as 31 previous matches when they were behind at half-time (4 draws, 25 losses).
For Brighton, coach Fabian Hurzeler's team has somewhat restored the team's spirit after a 0-7 loss to Nottingham Forest, with a victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup.
This was Brighton's biggest defeat in the English top flight, since a 0-9 loss to Middlesbrough in August 1958, and that means they will enter the round of 25 in 10th place.
Another defeat to Chelsea will be the first time the Seagulls (Brighton's nickname) have lost 3 consecutive Premier League matches since March 2022.
Brighton are unbeaten in their last three Premier League home games against teams starting the day in the Top 4 (2 wins, 1 draw).
However, in their last 5 home matches, Brighton have not won. The last time they won all 3 points at Amex was when they beat Man City 2-1 in November 2024.
An alarming statistic for Brighton is their poor defensive record against Chelsea, who have kept just one clean sheet in 15 Premier League meetings.
In terms of squad, Pervis Estupinan, Lewis Dunk and Mats Wieffer are all uncertain to play, while Ferdi Kadioglu and James Milner are expected to be out until at least March.
As for Chelsea, Nicolas Jackson, Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana are all absent due to injury.
Head-to-head record
This will be the second encounter in a week between the two sides at Brighton, with the home side winning 2-1 in the FA Cup last weekend.
The Seagulls came back from behind after goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen conceded an own goal early in the match.
After a 5-match unbeaten streak against Chelsea in the Premier League (2 wins, 3 draws), Brighton have lost all 3 recent matches.
Chelsea have lost just one of their seven Premier League away games against Brighton (4 wins, 2 draws), which was a 1-4 defeat in October 2022.
In the most recent match between the two teams in the Premier League in September 2024, Cole Palmer had a great performance when scoring all 4 goals in Chelsea's 4-2 victory.
The most goals a Chelsea player has scored against an opponent in a Premier League season is 5. It belongs to Gianluca Vialli vs Barnsley 1997-1998), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink vs Tottenham (2001-2002) and Diego Costa vs Swansea (2014-2015). If he scores more against Brighton, Palmer will equal or break the records of the above players.
The Brighton vs Chelsea match will take place at 3:00 am on February 15.
