Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Chelsea, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch

Graham Potter was very careful with his usage of “them” and “us” in his pre-match press conference, and after getting those the right way around, will now look to make it ten (10!) matches unbeaten at the start of his Chelsea career, by going back to the place where the success he attained got him the Chelsea job in the first place.

Potter’s homecoming in Brighton — literal since he still lives there, and figurative in the sporting sense — will set the narrative. Considering he hasn’t lost with his new club and his old club haven’t won since he left, it’s all indeed set up for a classic result — for “them” — probably with Billy Gilmour scoring the winning goal in the 95th minute.

Losing this would be far from a classic result for “us”, especially with Arsenal and Newcastle United the only other two remaining Premier League matches for Chelsea before the World Cup.

Date / Time: Saturday, October 29, 2022, 15.00 BST; 10am EDT; 7:30pm IST
Venue: Falmer Stadium (a.k.a. The Amex), Brighton, England
Referee: Andy Madley (on pitch); Lee Mason (VAR)
Forecast: Breezy but sunny

On TV: none (UK); USA, Universon (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: none (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images

Brighton team news: Potter’s replacement, former Sassuolo and Shakhtar boss Roberto De Zerbi has not managed to win any of his games thus far, but he has taken points off Liverpool, which is not nothing. As Potter said, Brighton have been a bit unlucky since he left, including with the strength of schedule. They lost 3-1 to Manchester City last weekend.

Given their relatively sparse schedule (5 games played since Potter left; we’ve played 9), they are relatively healthy, with only defender Joël Veltman and former Chelsea prospect Tariq Lamptey set to miss out. Fellow Chelsea man Levi Colwill is ineligible as per the terms of his loan.

Chelsea team news: Kalidou Koulibaly’s set to miss this third match in a row, joining long-term absentees Reece James, N’Golo Kante, and Wesley Fofana on the sidelines. Thiago Silva and Mateo Kovacic are among the walking wounded who are technically available but are far from 100 per cent.

The win on Tuesday, combined with Milan’s win later that day, means that our last Champions League group game, at home against Dinamo Zagreb will be just a glorified training exercise — hopefully with tons of rotation, youth involvement, etc. So we should practically have a full week to prepare for Arsenal next weekend, and be able to give it our all this weekend to keep our good form going.

Previously: We’ve drawn four of our last five against (Potter’s) Brighton. The one win was a 3-1 triumph for (Lampard’s) Blues a couple years ago at The Amex, Reece James getting the winning goal in the second half. Miss ya, Reecey!