Who: Chelsea vs Brighton What: English Premier League Where: Stamford Bridge, London, United Kingdom When: Sunday, August 30, at 2pm ( ) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up from ahead of our live text commentary stream Chelsea and Brighton will look to build on decent starts to the season, as the Blues welcome the Seagulls to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea began life under new coach Xabi Alonso with a breathless 3-2 victory at West London neighbours Fulham in the Premier League on Monday as their exciting front three of Joao Pedro, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer all found the net. They then followed that up with a solid 2-0 win over Luton in the League Cup on Thursday.
But Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton side also came into the game in a buoyant mood after recording back-to-back 4-0 home wins over Aston Villa in their Premier League opener last weekend and against Norwegian side Tromso in a Europa Conference League playoff on Thursday. Brighton will also fancy their chances against Chelsea, having won their last three league games against the Blues while finding the net three times on each occasion. Alonso said he wants players that “feel a desire” to play for Chelsea after Enzo Fernandez was left out of Thursday’s League Cup win over Luton.
The Argentina midfielder has been linked with a move to Manchester City, but no suitor has yet met Chelsea’s reported 120 million-pound ($162m) valuation of Fernandez. The 25-year-old came off the bench in the Blues’s 3-2 win over Fulham to give Alonso a winning start to his reign in the Premier League on Monday. However, the former Real Madrid boss hinted that Fernandez may not be involved against Brighton.
For me, it’s very important that they feel that desire to play and to have good preparation,” said Alonso. He’s a top player, there’s no doubt about that.” Selling Fernandez would ease the pressure on Chelsea to meet financial sustainability regulations after another window of heavy investment in the transfer market. Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix, Marco Palestra, Valentin Barco, Pep Chavarria, Danny Welbeck, Emmanuel Emegha and Geovany Quenda have arrived at Stamford Bridge for combined fees in excess of 300 million pounds ($406m).
Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez is also set to join to replace the error-prone Robert Sanchez as Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper. There have also been a number of departures from the club in recent days, including strikers Liam Delap and Nicolas Jackson. Alonso, who previously said his bloated squad size needed to be drastically cut, is satisfied with the clear-out.
We will see where we finish, if it’s fully executed or there are some things still to be done,” he added. We need to see how the last few days develop.” After a poor season, Palmer looked back to his best against Fulham as he thrived while roaming in a free role under Alonso. During his pre-match news conference, Hurzeler warned his side cannot defend against Palmer on a “one-to-one” basis and must be collectively strong to stop the playmaker and Chelsea’s other talents.
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