Brighton v Chelsea: team news and how to watch the game

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Chelsea begin their Premier League campaign with an away match against Brighton this evening. 

There are likely to be debuts for new signings Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, with the Blues having radically improved their attacking options ahead of the new season.


How to watch Brighton v Chelsea

The game kicks off at 8.15pm and is being screened on Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra HD

West London Sport will have live text updates throughout the evening; build-up, team news, updates during the game and all the important reaction as well as our player ratings.

Team news

Werner and Havertz are available but fellow new signings Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell will both miss out as they are recovering from injuries, while veteran defender Thiago Silva is also unlikely to feature.

But Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta are expected to be available after recovering from hamstring problems picked up in the FA Cup final.

Chelsea striker Timo Werner
Werner scored in the recent friendly against Brighton

Brighton are expected to be without Netherlands international Davy Propper.

The midfielder has missed all of Brighton’s pre-season fixtures with an Achilles problem.

Colombian winger Jose Izquiedero, striker Florin Andone and goalkeeper Christian Walton will also be sidelined for the visit of Frank Lampard’s side.

Chelsea ‘have recruited well’

Brighton manager Graham Potter believes Chelsea have done well in the transfer market over the summer and will be looking to push for the title.

“The intention is clear,” he said. “They want to compete at the top.

“They had a really good season in terms of finishing fourth with a transfer embargo and introducing new young players and playing in the Champions League.

“I’m guessing for a club like Chelsea and for someone like Frank, who has competed at the top for most of his career, they will want to push on and try to compete for the title.

“It looks like they have recruited well and got some really good players in to addition to the good players they have already, and they will be a strong side, there’s no doubt about that.”

Lampard ‘very hopeful’ – but there is pressure

Lampard says Chelsea’s spending in the close season means they cannot shy away from increased expectations.

They have, after all, spent around £200m on some of the brightest young talent in world football.

“We have made some big signings. We are very hopeful,” Lampard said.

“The profile of them I love. A lot of them are younger players.

“They have come in with great personality and they are good lads and obviously quality players and now we need to integrate them in.

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard
Lampard has beefed up his squad over the summer

“There is no doubt that the pressure feels different. We can’t hide away from that.

“We can hopefully go day-by-day and game-by-game improvement to get that level of consistency.

“We want to get back to where Liverpool and Manchester City are, but they have been a work in progress for a number of years.

“There is a lot of work getting nearly 100 points in a season so we need to try to bridge that gap in our own way.

“It may take a bit of time and that is the nature of top-level football.”