Key events
5 mins: I think Hato got a pretty clear shove in the back just before he fluffed that header, and him fluffing that header was instrumental to the goal being scored, and that VAR could therefore have got involved there. But he didn’t, and the goal stands.
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Chelsea (Kadioglu, 4 mins)
And Brighton score from the corner! It’s swung in from the left, met at the near post by Hato but his clearing header is more of a flick-on, it flies to Kadioglu, and he sidefoots in!
3 mins: And nearly a repeat of Mitoma’s goal at Spurs! Gross crosses deep from the right, Mitoma runs into the area, and his half-volley is on its way in before Sanchez flings out a glove to tip it over the bar!
2 min: Chelsea still have the ball. They’ve had one attack, in which Hinshelwood was brought down a few yards outside the penalty area but it looked like the referee was looking the other way, as presumably were his assistants, so no free kick.
1 min: Peeeeeep! It’s Brighton who get the game under way.
And now they’re out, and they’re about to play football.
The players are in the tunnel. While they’re there, the referee has singled out the two goalkeepers, having a brief chat to each of them individually about … well, I’ve no idea.
And here’s Fabian Hurzeler:
We shouldn’t talk too much about the table, it’s more about our performance, what we want to achieve today. We spoke about consistency, bringing a lot of effort on the pitch, a lot of energy. It’s about controlling the ball in the right way. It’s about breaking them, trying to build good, trying to create chances.
Liam Rosenior has a chat with Sky. He says there will “possibly” be a change of formations, and in their warm-ups they appear to be preparing a back three. In other news:
We need to make sure it’s a really strong team performance. We have a way that we want to play with and without the ball, our principles don’t change, we just need to go out and perform [like] we did against Manchester United, but we have to be better in both boxes.
Cole Palmer has tightness in his hamstring, apparently, hence his absence. Joao Pedro is also spared the burden of looking his former teammates in the eye after they overtake his current employers, with the Brazilian in line to return for this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds.
“Are Chelsea now the Spursiest club in London?” asks Gary Naylor. “Or is that Arsenal?” What Spurs would give to be Spursy right now.
The teams!
Get yer team news here! Is that a back five Chelsea have gone with? Looks like it might be.
Brighton: Verbruggen; Wieffer, Van Hecke, Boscagli, Kadioglu; Minteh, Baleba, Gross, Mitoma; Hinshelwood; Rutter. Subs: Ayari, De Cuyper, Dunk, Kostoulas, O’Riley, Steele, Welbeck, Veltman, Igor Julio.
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Fofana, Hato, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia; Fernandez, Pedro Neto; Delap. Subs: Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Dario Essugo, Derry, Garnacho, Marc Guiu, Santos, Sarr, Sharman-Lowe.
Referee: Craig Pawson.
VAR: James Bell.
Hello world! Six defeats in seven games in all competitions, with the one non-defeat an FA Cup win over Port Vale who play in League One and thus doesn’t count, mean Chelsea have all but kissed goodbye to their chances of a place in the top five. Brighton meanwhile have won five of their last seven, all of them in the Premier League. On Valentine’s Day Chelsea were fifth and Brighton 13 points back in 14th; if they win tonight Brighton will go above them. “My job is to be accountable. The buck stops with me,” says the beleaguered Liam Rosenior, whose summer holiday looks increasingly likely to be indefinite in length.
So, and to summarise, actually quite a lot riding on this. Here’s Jacob Steinberg on Chelsea’s sticky spot:
Liam Rosenior has acknowledged his job will be under threat if he cannot turn around Chelsea’s poor form before the end of the season.
Although the head coach recently received public backing from the co-owner Behdad Eghbali, he is aware that retaining long-term support is dependent on results. Chelsea are under growing pressure as four consecutive league defeats have left them seven points off fifth-placed Liverpool with five games to play, and Rosenior was realistic when asked whether his bosses had assured him his future did not hinge on securing Champions League qualification.
“I’ve had many conversations with them,” he said. “It’s a very direct question, I like it. They’re supporting me. They believe in me. There’s one thing I haven’t believed – the reality of the situation. At Chelsea football club, we’ve lost our four last league games. That’s not good enough. So, regardless of what they believe I can achieve with the club in the long term, I need to get results now.”
Much more here:
