Does Brighton also dominate at Stamford Bridge?

Chelsea Football Club remain the biggest problem child among the English top teams in 2023/24. With a meagre haul of five points from the first six games, the Blues have made a messed-up start to the season. The Londoners have not only been winless three times in a row, but have also failed to score a goal of their own. The League Cup may now turn out to be a welcome change from the dreary everyday life in the league.

On Wednesday evening, however, it is once again extremely difficult to place a bet on the capital club in the Chelsea vs Brighton clash. In addition to the weak form of the home team, it must also be noted that with the Seagulls one of the currently strongest teams in the country is travelling to Stamford Bridge.

For this reason, among others, we are not a fan of going with the lower odds on the home win in our Chelsea vs Brighton prediction. Instead, we don’t see coach Roberto de Zerbi’s team even remotely in the underdog role and can even well imagine the Europa League contender locking up a place in the next round. For the Blues, this would be tantamount to the next setback on the road to their former glory. Hove & Albion, on the other hand, would once again confirm their reputation as favourites’ scaremongers.

Chelsea – Statistics & current form

The new season is just over a month old and yet Chelsea FC are already experiencing the problems of the previous season. Offensively, the Londoners are far too harmless, defensively they stand up well, but still make crucial mistakes at important moments. These two aspects, which correlate negatively at the top level, are the reason why the former Champions League winners are once again lagging behind their own standards in the Premier League.

Strictly speaking, in view of the only five points from six games and 14th place in the interim rankings, one can already speak of the first tangible crisis. If you also consider that the only win of the season so far came at home against the previously completely overmatched promoted Luton Town (3-0) and that the Blues have also played four of their first six league games at their own stadium, this puts the meagre results in a darker light.

Will Chelsea also throw away their chance in the cup lightly?

Mauricio Pochettino, who was only hired in the summer and given the responsible task of driving forward the personnel upheaval and integrating heaps of new players into the structure, is already facing criticism. The Argentinean can still argue that he needs a little more time for the complicated development process, but the environment seems to be getting more and more restless.

According to media reports, co-coach Bruno Saltor resigned on Monday with immediate effect. Rumours are also circulating that co-owner Behdad Eghbali gave the team a dressing-down in the dressing room following the 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. Nerves are somewhat frayed, with Nicholas Jackson and co failing to score three times in a row in the Premier League.

At least the recent past in the League Cup reads quite positively. The Blues have reached the final of this cup competition three times in the last nine years. In 2015, they even managed to triumph. Last year, the Londoners lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the third round. Currently, we don’t see CFC in the position they were in the past and are therefore looking at the attractive odds between Chelsea and Brighton for the visitors to progress.

Predicted Chelsea line-up:
Petrovic; Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Chilwell; Caicedo, Gallagher; Palmer, Fernandez, Sterling; Broja

Brighton – Statistics & current form

Whoever thought Brighton played above their capabilities last season is completely deluded at the moment. After the first complete summer preparation under the Italian head coach Roberto de Zerbi, one could even get the feeling that the Seagulls have improved and developed in all aspects. This is also underlined by the current standings.

Behind Manchester City (18 points) and Liverpool (16), Brighton Hove & Albion are in an excellent third place with 15 points. Five of the six matches so far at league level have been victorious, although there have also been high-profile matches against Manchester United and Newcastle on the agenda.

The matches against the two top teams mentioned above, who played each other in the 2023 League Cup final, were both won 3:1. At the weekend, there was finally the third 3:1 league victory in a row against Bournemouth, which also drowned out the dejection after the bitter 2:3 defeat last Thursday. On their European Cup debut at home to Greek champions AEK Athens, it was not enough to secure a point despite the best chances and merciless superiority.

There’s plenty of spectacle in Brighton games

The way Evan Ferguson and Co. are going into matches at the moment, however, is convincing all along the line. The Blue and Whites demand of themselves that they always want to be dominant. This, in turn, leads to many goals being scored in most of the matches involving Hove & Albion.

In all six Premier League matches so far, bets have been placed on at least four (!) goals in the course of the match. Also in all six cases, both teams scored. No other English first division team has scored more goals than De Zerbi’s team, which has scored at least three goals of its own in six of its seven competitive matches this year. In our eyes, it therefore makes perfect sense to once again make a prediction on the over 2.5 between Chelsea and Brighton.

Predicted line-up of Brighton:
Steele; Lamptey, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Lallana, Gilmour; March, Fati, Mitoma; Pedro

Chelsea – Brighton Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

So far, we are only looking at twelve Premier League duels that the two teams have had. Half of these matches were won by Chelsea. There have also been four draws and two victories for Brighton.

Significantly, however, these two victories stem from pre-season, in which the Seagulls won 2-1 (A) and 4-1 (H) in the first and second legs. If the Seagulls can now win their third competitive match, odds of no more than 3.00 are on offer on Chelsea to win away from home after normal time in the League Cup clash.

Chelsea – Brighton betting tips

With no seedings in the English cup competition and now all the European Cup contenders entering in the third main round, there will be some exciting clashes during the week.

In our eyes, this encounter delivers enormous surprise potential. Admittedly, it wouldn’t be such a big surprise if Brighton, third in the table, were to come out on top in a head-to-head clash against London, 14th in the table, who have only won a single league game. Form, style of play and momentum are all in favour of the Seagulls, who have also won their two most recent meetings with the Blues.

If you still want to forgo attractive odds on De-Zerbi’s side progressing and instead place a neutral bet, you can probably do quite well with the Over 2.5. At least four (!) goals have been scored in all Brighton compulsory matches this season.

The mark of three or more goals should therefore be cracked in any case, even if the home side recently went three times in a row without scoring. We therefore recommend betting odds of 1.65 on the over 2.5 in the Chelsea vs. Brighton match and even risk a confident stake of seven units.