Talking tactics: Chelsea versus a Brighton that is starting to find their wings

Chelsea begins the New Year against a Brighton side that is better than appears. The Seagulls are finding their wings and Chelsea needs to be careful.

Chris Hughton had Brighton playing incredibly organized yet effective football. Unfortunately, the margins fell on the wrong side in the back half of last season and he was sacked. Graham Potter, one of a growing generation of exciting young English coaches was brought in to add some flair to the Seagulls.

Given the start Brighton had, it appeared to be a move too soon. The side struggled to find points though they continued to play well. Moral victories are not victories however and it appeared as though the Potter experiment may be short lived.

But the margins are steadily becoming kinder for Brighton. While they sit in just 14th, they are arguably performing much better than that. They have been especially dangerous to the top six which should cause Chelsea and Frank Lampard to sit up and take notice. The Blues have already defeated Brighton once this season, but it was not comfortable and the Seagulls are starting to learn how to fly.

It is hard to nail down a formation for Brighton as they seemingly change it in response to the opponent. 3-4-3 is arguably their main go to, but they have also used 4-2-3-1 and 4-diamond-2 in recent weeks. Given that Chelsea likes to press and play down the flanks, the 4-2-3-1 might be the most likely shape for Brighton but that is truly an unknown.

Given the formation is an unknown, their exact style of play follows that mystery. In general, they look to keep it short and build their way up through the wide areas rather than going direct. They will need to beat Chelsea’s press in this event but if they can they could find their way into dangerous pockets near the Chelsea goal.

Defensively, Brighton still taps into the organization left behind by Hughton. Regardless of formation, they appear to know their role and feel confident in the execution of the plan. They will move into their defensive shape quickly before looking to win the ball whenever it moves into a wide area (still somewhat Chelsea’s preferred area of building up themselves).

In the match earlier this season, Brighton did not have much of an issue winning the ball off Chelsea or attacking the Blues through the gaps a very fluid midfield left. Chelsea has improved on the latter but the former is anyone’s guess after recent performances. Brighton is the exact sort of side the Blues have let their guard down against in recent weeks and the Seagulls are surely a team that will look to pounce on that.

Chelsea should be winning a match like this but the mentality needs to be high and constant. Show up with the same mentality as against Southampton, West Ham, Everton, or Arsenal in the early stages and things will go south quickly. But have the fire shown late against Arsenal and throughout versus Tottenham? Then this should be a cake walk. Were it so easy.