Chelsea vs Brighton: Team news, kick-off time, likely line-ups, odds and stats from the Premier League clash
- Chelsea take on Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day at 3pm
- Chelsea will welcome back Alvaro Morata to their squad for Brighton game
- Defender Shane Duffy will return for Brighton on Tuesday afternoon
Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Chelsea's home clash with Brighton on Boxing Day at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea vs Brighton (Stamford Bridge)
Team news
Chelsea
Chelsea will welcome Alvaro Morata back to their squad for the visit of Brighton.
The Spaniard, the Blues' top scorer in the Premier League with nine goals, served a one-game ban against Everton having accrued five yellow cards and he will be expected to slot straight back into the team.
Alvaro Morata will be back in Chelsea's squad for their Premier League clash with Brighton
Cesc Fabregas and Davide Zappacosta could feature if Antonio Conte opts to make changes but David Luiz (knee) and Charly Musonda (groin) are still absent.
Provisional squad: Courtois, Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Kante, Hazard, Morata, Pedro, Bakayoko, Moses, Kenedy, Zappacosta, Willian, Batshuayi, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Clarke-Salter, Sterling, Eduardo, Ampadu, Hudson-Odoi.
Brighton
Brighton will welcome back defender Shane Duffy from suspension for their Premier League trip to champions Chelsea.
The Republic of Ireland international has completed a one-game ban after collecting five yellow cards and could return in place of Connor Goldson, who deputised for him during Saturday's victory over Watford.
Defender Shane Duffy will return for Brighton after serving a one-match ban
On-loan forward Izzy Brown will be unavailable to feature against his parent club, while midfielder Steve Sidwell (back) remains out.
Provisional squad: Ryan, Krul, Bong, Bruno, Hunemeier, Dunk, Rosenior, Goldson, Schelotto, Suttner, Kayal, Propper, Knockaert, Stephens, March, Izquierdo, Gross, Murray, Hemed, Baldock.
Key match stats (supplied by Opta)
Chelsea have won all four of their previous league games against Brighton, though this will be the first such meeting since March 1989 in the second tier.
Brighton have failed to score in the last three of their four league games against the Blues, which includes both matches at Stamford Bridge.
Indeed, Brighton’s only victory in any competition against Chelsea came in their first such meeting – 2-1 in an FA Cup tie in January 1933.
This will be the first ever top-flight meeting between these sides – Brighton will be Chelsea’s 60th different opponent in the top tier of English football.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League games played on Boxing Day (W7 D5), since a 2-4 loss at Charlton in 2003.
Meanwhile, Brighton haven’t won any of their last eight league games on December 26th (D3 L5), since beating QPR in the Championship in 2005.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League games played on Boxing Day
This is the 17th occasion in the last 21 Premier League seasons that Chelsea have found themselves in the top four on Christmas Day – the only exceptions in this period being 2015-16 (15th), 2001-02 (6th), 2000-1 (9th) and 1999-00 (10th).
Brighton & Hove Albion found themselves in 12th place on Christmas Day 2017 – the only time they’ve been higher in the English League system at this time of year was back in 1981-82 (8th).
Chelsea have 39 points at the halfway point of the Premier League season – this is 10 less than they had at this stage of their title-winning 2016-17 campaign under Antonio Conte.
Pascal Gross has been directly involved in nine Premier League goals this season (four goals, five assists), four more than any other Brighton player.
Most watched Sport videos
- Madrid staff storm the pitch after Joselu's winner against Bayern
- Mbappe asked if he will be supporting Real Madrid
- Jason Kelce claims Secretariat were 'doping' in the 1970s
- Tackle moment on field that made NRL great Fatty Vautin infuriated
- Glen Davis says jail is the only way he'll stop eating hamburgers
- Travis Kelce gets his makeup done filming new horror show
- Olivia Dunne celebrates boyfriend Paul Skenes' Pirates call up
- Ed Sheeran takes the Ipswich team out for a promotion party
- Rio Ferdinand shows 'respect' as he avoids Real Madrid badge
- Real Madrid players applaud fans after comeback against Bayern
- Football star Kylian Mbappé announces his departure from PSG
- Beckham on the importance of '99 after his difficult '98 season