Chelsea predictions: Little reason to worry about three points against Brighton

Two teams with a lot at stake meet at Stamford Bridge midweek. Our staff predict a Chelsea win, but one not nearly as comfortable as it should be against a team fighting relegation.

Brighton and Hove Albion are one of three teams trying to keep Cardiff City in 18th place. Chelsea are one of four teams battling for the two remaining Champions League spots. Perhaps this is the motivation Maurizio Sarri has been looking for.

Olaoluwa Nwobodo: Chelsea 3 – 1. Brighton and Hove Albion. I’m not feeling confident at all. Chelsea struggled against them the last time out, and if they could get turned over by Bournemouth, I don’t want to know what Brighton can do, especially seeing as Anthony Knockaert can punish them from range. Cardiff controlled the Blues very comfortably. There’s a possibility Callum Hudson-Odoi will start, and Emerson is also likely to start. This means no clean sheet. Not confident at all.

Nate Hofmann: 3 – 1. Chelsea’s greatest hope for taking all three points lies in squad rotation.  Maurizio Sarri restricted Eden Hazard, Olivier Giroud and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to substitute appearances against Cardiff, while N’Golo Kante and Callum Hudson-Odoi were held out completely.

It would be great for all five of those names to be in the starting XI against Brighton, but I’m not holding my breath.  Still, the inclusion of even a couple of those players could be enough to revitalize the withering corpse of a team that eked out the most underserved of results last weekend.

As for Brighton, they fielded something close to their best XI against Southampton, and still suffered a demoralizing loss to a fellow relegation candidate.  A downtrodden and heavily rotated opponent could be just what the doctor ordered for Chelsea, and a comfortable win seems like a reasonable expectation. Two goals for Hazard and one for Giroud.

Kevin Peacock: 2 – 0. I don’t even know what to predict now. United lost and a win takes Chelsea above them into fifth place. Heaven forbid Spurs don’t win and the Blues go 4th. It’s heady stuff for the floundering Blues. Can Chelsea get the job done, though?

I prefer to be positive, so yes they can. Maurizio Sarri has indicated Callum Hudson-Odoi may start, finally, the penny has dropped… no I’m joking. Chelsea will win, but, of course, it won’t be easy. A scoreless first half in which Chelsea have 80% possession will be eclipsed in the second half when they actually score two goals – both offside – through Hudson-Odoi and Hazard.

Tan Yi Hao: 2 – 1. Chelsea won 2-1 last time out, but strangely, fans seem more sure than ever Sarri just isn’t the man to deliver the “beautiful football” that was promised.

Chelsea were absolutely trash and recorded ZERO shots on target in the first half. I mean, no disrespect to Cardiff but they are the 18th placed team in the league. To see Chelsea struggle so badly against a side like that was really embarrassing to say the least.

To make matters worse, the Blues came out at half-time only to concede a minute after the restart. Rather strangely, it is becoming increasingly clear that Sarri’s halftime “pep talk” (pun intended) actually makes Chelsea worse.

Yes, Chelsea won thanks to Willian’s hair and Loftus-Cheek’s head, but one certainly does wonder if Sarri’s luck can continue to hold out against a much more dangerous Brighton. For me, the answer would be a yes, for now. Chelsea’s quality of players will undoubtedly see them through once more.

Gabe Henderson: 3 – 0. Squad rotation, squad rotation, squad rotation. I heard Callum Hudson-Odoi will start from the lips of the man himself, although I still don’t believe it. Regardless, Chelsea will win comfortably. Hopefully Spurs will do something Spursy and the Blues move into the top four. If the possibility of going into the top four isn’t enough to motivate the players tomorrow, I don’t know what is.

Barrett Rouen: 2 – 0. Hudson-Odoi and Loftus-Cheek score and we see just how truly terrible Sarri’s selection has been all season in a match where Chelsea look wonderful simply because he actually picked the best players to play.

Scott Brant: 2 – 1. I am at a loss for words with regards to Sarri, the players and what to expect. Last match versus Cardiff was a case of better to be lucky than good. Hopefully Chelsea can win and Callum Hudson-Odoi can use this showcase to make his statement for starting. It’ll be a shame if they can’t keep Brighton off the board.

Karan Saini: 4 – 0. Chelsea has been surprisingly good and surprisingly bad this season, sometimes at the same time this season. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United both dropped points recently, and this is a huge opportunity for the Blues to get into top four. This should be enough motivation for Chelsea to get a win and increase their chances of finishing in the Champions League spots

For all the horrible performances the fans have had to bear, the squad can and should make full use of this chance to at least win back some trust. If Maurizio Sarri has learnt anything from this season, he should be starting Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek along with N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard.

Abhishek Pancholi: 3 – 0. Just when you think the Chelsea head honchos must have had enough of this festival of feces, along come Brighton to give away three easy points. I say easy, because this Chelsea side should have no trouble beating the visitors under any circumstances. And I do mean ANY circumstances. Even when handicapped by a manager who is incapable of introspection, amongst other things.

So, a terrible game of football will be decided by the individual brilliance of Eden Hazard and Willian, while Callum Hudson-Odoi shops for Oktoberfest lederhosen on his phone.