Chelsea vs Brighton
Premier League 2018-19
Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Kick-off time: 7:45pm GMT
Rarely could a manager have won an away game and actually increased the pressure on his future, but that is the position Maurizio Sarri finds himself in this week.
The Chelsea coach was loudly booed by the Blues' travelling fans as they looked to be heading for a shock defeat at Cardiff City on Sunday, but Sarri's side secured a controversial 2-1 comeback win late on to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish.
And things got even better on Tuesday night.
Manchester United’s defeat at Wolves saw them miss the chance of dumping Spurs out of the top four for the first time since December, and that loss give Chelsea the chance to go level with third-placed Arsenal with a win on Wednesday night.
Chelsea vs Brighton team news and line-ups
Chelsea XI: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson Palmieri, Kante, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Hazard
Subs: Rudiger, Barkley, Higuain, Caballero, Kovacic, Zappacosta, Willian
Brighton XI: Ryan, Saltor, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Propper, Stephens, Bissouma, March, Andone, Jahanbakhsh
Subs: Kayal, Knockaert, Murray, Izquierdo, Button, Bernardo, Burn
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Score prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Brighton
Three points at Cardiff did little to paper over the cracks of a poor performance from Chelsea on Sunday, but Sarri's side showed resolve to fight until the final whistle for the win.
Brighton will be confident of taking the game to the hosts in west London and should make a game of it, though Sarri will be confident he has enough on the bench to get another result.
