Chelsea vs Brighton & Hove Albion Prediction: Chelsea are coming off a 1-0 defeat against Villa in Premier League

Chelsea will welcome Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge in Round 3 of the EFL English Cup. Chelsea are coming off a 1-0 defeat against Villa in Premier League. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Chelsea's season took a turn for the worse as they suffered another disappointing loss at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The defeat was compounded by Malo Gusto's red card in the 58th minute, followed by Ollie Watkins' winning goal in the 73rd minute. This loss adds to Chelsea's struggles in the 2023-24 Premier League season, with only one victory and three defeats in their six games. In terms of goal scoring, only Luton Town and Burnley have scored fewer goals than Chelsea's tally of five. Consequently, Chelsea currently sits in 14th place, trailing third-placed Brighton by 10 points and having only a four-point cushion above the relegation zone. Furthermore, the team already finds itself nine points behind the top four. Chelsea's EFL Cup campaign started with a lackluster victory over AFC Wimbledon, where they had to come from behind to secure a narrow 2-1 win against the fourth-tier team. Given these circumstances, Mauricio Pochettino will be aiming for a much-improved performance in their upcoming match on Wednesday.

Petrovic; Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Chilwell; Caicedo, Gallagher; Palmer, Fernandez, Sterling; Broja

In contrast, the start of the season for Brighton has been impressive as they have won five out of their six Premier League matches, putting them within reach of Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the standings. After defeating Newcastle United and Manchester United 3-1 in consecutive matches, Roberto De Zerbi's team suffered a 3-2 loss against AEK Athens in the Europa League last week, but quickly bounced back with a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth over the weekend. With the score tied at 1-1 after the first half, Kaoru Mitoma came off the bench to score twice in the second half, leading Brighton to a comeback win. This season, Brighton has scored at least three goals in five of their six league matches, making them the top scorers in the Premier League with 18 goals. With their innovative attacking style, they will be confident in their ability to further worsen Chelsea's struggles.

Steele; Lamptey, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Lallana, Gilmour; March, Fati, Mitoma; Pedro

Considering Chelsea's recent struggles, as well as Brighton's notable success, it appears likely that Pochettino's team will face another challenging evening. Given Brighton's impressive performance of scoring 20 goals in seven matches this season, we anticipate the Seagulls achieving another significant triumph at Stamford Bridge. The game is expected to be full of goals with both teams scoring.