Chelsea vs Brighton LIVE commentary: Predicted line-ups and latest news as Maresca looks to build momentum against unbeaten Seagulls

Chelsea welcome Brighton to West London this weekend for an intriguing Premier League clash, live on talkSPORT 2.

The Blues are unbeaten in all competitions since losing Enzo Maresca‘s first game against Manchester City on the opening weekend.

They dismantled West Ham 3-0 last weekend and have so many attacking options available to them.

Meanwhile, Brighton are one of four unbeaten sides still in the top-flight after a fiery draw with Nottingham Forest last time out.

Morgan Gibbs-White, Nuno Espirito Santo and Fabian Hurzeler were all sent off as Forest came from behind to deny Brighton three points.

But boss Hurzeler will be on the touchline this weekend and will take on Maresca for the first time.

Chelsea vs Brighton: Mikel inspires Jackson

After Chelsea‘s defeat to Man City in early August, Blues icon John Obi Mikel slated Nicolas Jackson‘s finishing.

In response, the striker called out the former midfielder and has scored four goals since.

He bagged in games against Wolves, Crystal Palace and West Ham to make a mockery of Mikel’s claims.

Maresca has kept faith with Jackson, and he’s starting to deliver goals.

So, it seems the much-maligned forward has used Mikel’s criticism as the perfect form of motivation.

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• After a run of five Premier League games without a win against Brighton (D3 L2), Chelsea did the double over the Seagulls last season.
• Brighton have only lost one of their last four Premier League away games against Chelsea (W1 D2), though it was a 3-2 loss in this exact fixture last season.
• Chelsea won both Premier League meetings with Brighton last season, despite having a player sent off in each game. It’s one of just two occasions a team has won consecutive meetings with an opponent despite going down to 10 men (also Middlesbrough v Sunderland in 2002), while the Blues have never had a player sent off in three consecutive meetings with an opponent.

Chelsea vs Brighton: Date and how to follow

This Premier League game is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 28.

Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is scheduled for 3pm.

talkSPORT 2 will have live coverage of the game from west London, with Faye Carruthers serving as your presenter.

Commentary comes from Joe Shennan and former England defender Micky Gray.

talkSPORT.com will also have all the action in our dedicated Premier League blog.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

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• Chelsea have won eight of their last 10 Premier League games (D1 L1). Indeed, since the start of May (when this run began) no team has won more Premier League points than the Blues (25).
• Chelsea have won all three of their Premier League away games this season but remain winless at Stamford Bridge (D1 L1). Only in 2001-02 and 2019-20 have they failed to win any of their first three at home in the competition.
• Brighton are one of four sides still unbeaten in the Premier League this season coming into this weekend’s games, though their last three have all been drawn (W2). They’ve never gone unbeaten in their first six games from the start of a top-flight campaign before.

Chelsea vs Brighton: Team news and predicted line-ups

The Blues remain without Reece James but have Malo Gusto back.

Romeo Lavia is finally fit to return to action with Maresca confirming in his pre-match press conference that he is available for selection.

Robert Sanchez, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer and Jackson are all set to start.

Gusto should come in at right-back now that he’s available.

On the wings, there are a lot of options, but Noni Madueke and Jadon Sancho started against West Ham and should do so again here.

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Meanwhile, Brighton have a lot of players out.

Matt O’Riley, Joao Pedro, Solly March and James Milner will play no part.

Despite it being early days, Hurzeler already appears to have found a few players who are nailed to start.

Bart Verbruggen, Lewis Dunk, Joel Veltman, Jan Paul van Hecke and Danny Welbeck.

At left-back, Pervis Estupinan should seal a place in the XI.

Carlos Baleba and Jack Hinshlewood are the most likely to form the double pivot.

Kaoru Mitoma should be on the left, while on the right, there is Simon Adingra or Yankuba Minteh, and it’s a flip of the coin between them.

Georginio Rutter is likely to be in behind Welbeck.

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• Only Manchester City (13) have scored more goals than Chelsea (11) in the Premier League so far this season. The Blues are currently overperforming their xG more than any other side this term (11 goals, 8 xG), while their shot conversion rate of 18.6% is the highest on record in a single campaign (since 1997-98).
• Brighton have drawn each of their last three Premier League games – it’s their seventh run of three consecutive draws in the competition, while the Seagulls last drew four straight league games in October 2014.
• Nicolas Jackson has been involved in 13 goals in his last 13 Premier League games for Chelsea (9 goals, 4 assists), one more than he’d managed in his first 27 appearances (9 goals, 3 assists).
• Brighton’s Danny Welbeck – who already has three goals and one assist to his name in the Premier League this season – has scored three goals in his last four league games against Chelsea, with all three of these strikes coming as a substitute.

Chelsea vs Brighton: What has been said?

Brighton boss Hurzeler revealed at his pre-match press conference that he was sent off for stepping on the pitch and not for any bad language.

As a result, he’s allowed on the touchline this weekend.

Speaking about it, he said: “I got this red card for stepping on the pitch.

“If you give a red card for this, you would have to ban a lot of coaches because it happens.

“We are role models, but sometimes, you should bring out your emotion.

“But I know what the fine will be, and I will be on the sideline against Chelsea, and this is the most positive outcome.”