Chelsea v Brighton Tips: Best bets as the Seagulls take on Tuchel's men at the Bridge
Live on Sky Sports, Chelsea welcome Brighton to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night in the Premier League. It's been an impressive week for Tuchel's side; after knocking out Porto in the Champions League they went on to secure a place in the FA Cup final, beating favourites Man City 1-0 on the weekend.
They go into this fixture knowing a win puts them back in that desired top 4 after West Ham's 3-2 defeat to Newcastle. However, I don’t see Brighton making life easy for the home side as they are still after a few points to confirm their Premier League status for another season.
Chelsea have only lost one Premier League game under new manager Thomas Tuchel and that came in their last home game, a shock 5-2 defeat to West Brom. Brighton have won 2 of their last 4 with the only loss in this time coming against Man United, a game you could argue they were unlucky to come away empty handed.
The Blues head into this game with no fresh injury concerns, but are still set to be without Christensen and Kovacic. Brighton will have the same squad available to them that drew with Everton, still without Tariq Lamptey and Solly March.
Potential Chelsea Starting line-up:
Mendy, Azpi, Zouma, Rudiger, Hudson Odoi, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso, Mount, Pulisic, Havertz.
Potential Brighton Starting line-up:
Sanchez, White, Dunk, Veltman, GroB, Lallana, Bissouma, Moder, Welbeck, Trossard, Maupay.
I am expecting Chelsea to get the job done here but I feel the 4/7 available is a little bit on the skinny side, chucking in under 4 goals gives us an 11/10 shot which is much more appealing. The hosts are unbeaten in 11 of their last 12 league games and it’s hard to see them not picking up 3 points here vs relegation threatened Brighton.
Chelsea have only seen 4 or more match goals on two occasions under Thomas Tuchel from a total of 19 games managed by the German. The switch to a back 3 has seen them become a much more solid defensive unit and they face a side here struggling for goals. Brighton also haven’t seen 4 or more match goals in any of their last 17 games so this looks a value way of getting Chelsea on-side.
In a game where you are not expecting many goals, the first goal-scorer market is always one to consider. Paddy Power have Pulisic at 11/2 and I will be making this my second play.
I expect the American to return to the starting 11 here after only featuring off the bench on the weekend. After many injuries he is starting to hit form again, scoring 3 goals in his last 2 League games and he can be Chelsea’s main attacking threat if he is to start.
Pulisic managed 3 shots on target vs Crystal Palace, scoring 2 in a 4-1 victory. The Chelsea forward is around 8/5 to score anytime but given the number of goals expected here I am happy to risk him to score first at a much more attractive price.
For the longshot I’m going for this stat-backed shot on target treble. This can be backed using Paddy Power's bet builder feature.
Mount is averaging 2.2 shots per game in the Premier league this season and has had 9 shots in his last 2 games! He has managed at least 1 on target in each of his last 5 league games so to see him at Evens here for one is well worthy of adding to the longshot.
I expect Alonso to come back in for Ben Chilwell and the wing-backs play an important attacking role in Tuchel's side. Alonso has managed a whopping 18 shots in 7 league starts since the German has come in, having 2 or more shots in all 7 starts, hoping he can hit the target at least once here.
Lallana could have a vital role to play in the final third here if Brighton are to have any success vs Chelsea. The English Midfielder had 4 shots in his last game vs Everton hitting the target once and I fancy him to repeat this feat.
I will be combining these three shots on target plays for a juicy 20/1 longshot for some added interest Tuesday night.
