When they play at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, Chelsea will try to knock Brighton & Hove Albion out of the Carabao Cup third round.
The Pensioners’ bad start to the 2023/24 Premier League season continued on Sunday when they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. This means that Mauricio Pochettino’s team only has five points after their first six Premier League games.
After losing to Villa at Stamford Bridge, Pochettino, who is under pressure because of the club’s bad run of form, will be looking for a strong answer from his players when they play Brighton in the cup. Brighton is coming to west London after beating Bournemouth 3-1 in the league.
Chelsea Team News
A VAR review of Malo Gusto’s hit on Lucas Digne led to him getting a red card during Chelsea’s 0-1 loss to Aston Villa. The French full-back will not play against Brighton because he has been suspended for three games. Nicolas Jackson got his fifth yellow card in just six games on Sunday. He will miss the next Premier League game against Fulham because of this.
Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia, Carney Chukwuemeka, and Christopher Nkunku are all hurt and can’t play for Chelsea.
Noni Madueke has missed the last two games against Bournemouth and Aston Villa because of a muscle problem. He is still not sure if he will be able to play against Brighton, but Marc Cucurella was back in the team on Sunday.
Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Brighton (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
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Since Chelsea has a lot of injuries and is not playing well, Mauricio Pochettino has no choice but to switch up his lineup in the Carabao Cup third-round match.
The game against Brighton at Stamford Bridge could be the best time to show Chelsea fans Djordje Petrovic, who joined the team in the summer to back up Robert Sanchez.
Defence
Since there are a lot of injuries in the current defense, it’s likely that this group will stay the same from the loss to Aston Villa. This means that Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva, and Levi Colwill will play in front of Petrovic for Chelsea.
Due to Malo Gusto’s ban, Disasi should play right back in place of him, and Ben Chilwell should play left back for Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Silva will partner Colwill in central defence, as Chelsea look to stop Brighton from scoring.
Midfield
There are more choices in the middle third. Moises Caicedo is expected to be given the job of holding the fort, and Lesley Ugochukwu will join him in Chelsea’s engine room to form a double pivot.
Cole Palmer could replace Enzo Fernandez in the No. 10 spot for Chelsea, which he did in the last game. The young Englishman will connect the midfield and attack, and the former Man City player will try to impress the boss after his big money move.
Attack
Raheem Sterling could be taken out of Chelsea’s team, and Ian Maatsen could take his place. Conor Gallagher could play as the wide midfielder on the right side, giving the Blues’ team more energy and drive. Nicolas Jackson will be in charge of the attack again. He hasn’t scored a goal in four games, so he wants to end that streak.
Armando Broja played for Chelsea for the first time since he hurt his ACL 10 months ago. He played against Villa on Sunday. He will try to make a difference if the boss asks him to play on Wednesday.