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Football London
Football London
Sport
Matthew Holt

Three ways Chelsea can lineup vs Brighton as Thomas Tuchel faces Mason Mount decision

Chelsea will look to return to winning this evening, as Thomas Tuchel's side travel to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Blues suffered only their third domestic defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 1-0 to league leaders Manchester City.

Old foe Kevin de Bruyne struck the decisive blow with twenty minutes remaining, as the Citizens stretched their lead to a then 13 points.

With 16 games remaining, it is looking increasingly more and more likely that Pep Guardiola's men will retain the title this season, with Chelsea perhaps turning their attention elsewhere in terms of silverware.

Here, football.london details three ways that Tuchel could lineup as he looks to guide his side back to winning ways.

The same back-line

With German boss Tuchel opting for a back three of Malang Sarr, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger, the Blues were only undone by a single piece of magic by Belgian playmaker Kevin de Bruyne.

Conceding just 17 goals domestically this year, Chelsea have impressed for the most part and will more than likely opt for the same trio given Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Andreas Christensen and Trevoh Chalobah are all still sidelined.

With talks still rumoured to be lingering regarding Rudiger's future, the 28-year-old has been a consistent performer for Tuchel's side and continues to give his best despite rumours circulating week in, week out.

A magnitude of midfield options

With top scorer Jorginho, playmaker Mason Mount and Spaniard star Saul Niguez all having to settle for a place on the bench this weekend, Chelsea's German head coach could look to alter his midfield options.

Mount may find more joy against the Seagulls than against City and potentially could be recalled either in the middle of the park or alternatively in attack.

With N'Golo Kante ever present it seems finding the vital key to unlock Brighton's backline will be the biggest test for Tuchel to administer across the 90 minutes.

Lukaku's dry spell

Returning following a lengthy spell on the sidelines, summer signing Romelu Lukaku has struggled to re-ignite his form we saw in the early parts of this season.

With Timo Werner also only scoring 6 times this year, Chelsea have struggled in this department, with City and Liverpool both scoring 9 and 10 goals more respectively.

As mentioned, with 16 games to go, Lukaku has now seemingly 'kissed and made up' with the Blues boss and will be bidding to return to the scoresheet tomorrow night.

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