Brighton v Chelsea: Premier League – live

“My favourite teammate’s goal reaction is Sergio Reguilon to Eric Lamela’s Ramona in the NLD”, emails George Ronczy.

Yep, that’s a good shout. Not a reaction to a goal, but Anthony Gardner’s reaction to a Adel Taarabt nutmeg (while the Moroccan was at Tottenham) is an all-timer. Gardner just looked away and stopped watching the game in astonishment. Filthy.

Half-time reading:

Half-time: Brighton 2-0 Chelsea

48 min: After a slow start in which he let Palmer have acres of space, Baleba has quietly been excellent for Brighton, extinguishing fires around Brighton’s penalty box when Chelsea threatened to create an opening.

45 min: Four minutes added on here. Chelsea will want to nick one before the half is out.

“The reaction of Mitoma’s teammates to that goal is quite sweet,” emails Tom Atkins. “There’s a real disbelief and excitement on their faces that reminds me of a goal scored by Dennis Bergkamp against Sunderland in 1997, where the pitch side camera clearly picks up Paul Merson giggling ‘what a f***ing goal!’”

One of the great Premier League celebrations, this. Pure impudence.

For context, I would say Mitoma’s goal was better. It’s the best goal I’ve seen all season.

44 min: Yellow card for Caicedo, who brings former teammate Mitoma down in midfield with an ill-timed slide. It was not without force, but accidental and yellow is probably the right colour.

42 min: Lots of nice Chelsea build-up again, but no clinical edge to the visitors’ play. Neat interplay sets up Gusto on the edge of Brighton’s box, and the right back hits a left-footed shot high and wide. All fart, no … you know the rest.

Chelsea have had 71% possession, and no shots on target.

40 min: “Can we play you every week?” taunt the Brighton fans?

GOAL! Brighton 2-0 Chelsea (Minteh 38)

CHELSEA GOAL DISALLOWED!

32 min: The beauty of football. Chelsea, by far the better team, find themselves behind.

30 min: That Mitoma goal belongs alongside the Suárez goal v Newcastle in terms of first touches directly leading to a goal. I will not be told otherwise.

Ooooooooooooh, good lord. What a goal. It’s route one stuff as Verbruggen hoofs one long into the night’s sky. Mitoma sprints forward, watching the flight of the ball over his shoulder – and I mean literally from behind his back over the top of Mitoma’s head onto his right foot. Mitoma cushions the ball like it a bean bag, like it is the easiest thing in the world and in one movement, takes a touch away from the trailing Cholabah before finishing cooly past Jorgensen. From first touch to nestling in the corner, the three glorious Mitoma touches took a mere two seconds. But this goal is all about the first touch, one for the ages. One-nil to Brighton!

GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Chelsea (Mitoma 27)

26 min: Palmer is starting to pull the strings for Chelsea, twice playing through balls that would make Jason Statham shed a tear.

England manager Thomas Tuchel watches on from the stands. How will the German use Palmer in next month’s internationals?

24 min: Mitoma has his first real oppotunity to run at Gusto, but the Japanese stumbles just as he enters Chelsea’s penalty area.

22 min: Neto has switched to the right flank for Chelsea, and Sancho will play on the left. Lamptey, playing left-back tonight for Brighton, makes a good early tackle on Neto.

20 min: Madueke looks like he has pulled his hamstring and is going to need to come off! Chelsea’s injury woes continue! Their only attacker on the subs bench, Sancho, will come on.

18 min: Chelsea again break down that right flank, with Madueke springing clear of Lamptey. Again the ball is cut back to Palmer, completely unmarked on the edge of Brighton’s area again, but the English playmakers skews uncharacteristically wide! That was a real chance! Where on earth were Hinshelwood or Baleba?!

16 min: Lamptey, a former Chelsea player of course, is clattered by Colwill but referee Chris Kavanagh waves play on! Fabian Hürzeler is furious on the sidelines, bouncing around on the sidelines like a kangaroo on a space hopper.

13 min: Big chance for Brighton! Welbeck pounces on a loose ball and races through on goal, albeit from an acute angle. Just as the striker is shaping to shoot, Caicedo makes a huge sliding tackle to send the ball behind for a Brighton corner.

10 min: Cucurella upends Minteh and is perhaps a little lucky to escape a booking. The home crowd are not best pleased.

8 min: Chelsea have not carved out an obvious chance but they are obviously in the mood. Palme, Madueke and Gusto have already created plenty of promising openings without creating a golden chance. But it feels like a matter of time at the moment.

6 min: Palmer finds another pocket of space, this time on the right wing, turning Webster inside out but his cross is intercepted and cleared by the very talented Baleba, who surely already has this chant at Brighton?

4 min: A brilliant counter-attack from Chelsea! Chalobah is pinned right as Brighton attempt a high-press but Chelsea find their way out of it as Madueke backheels cleverly to release Gusto. The French full-back canters 60 yards up the right full-back, with Hinshelwood unable to keep up, before a cut-back finds Palmer in oceans of space on the edge of Brighton’s area … the shot flies over.

2 min: Another former Brighton player in Chelsea’s all-black away kit tonight, Marc Cucurella, is roundly booed by the home fans whenever he touches the ball. There are also some choice words directed at the Spaniard as he goes to take a throw-in, that I won’t repeat here.

Peeeeeeeeeep!

Former Brighton midfielder Moisés Caicedo is quietly having an absolutely barnstorming season for Chelsea. He has made more tackles and interceptions combined than any other midfielder in the Premier League, completed more passes into the final third than any other player, won the third-most duels of any player.

These are the highlights from last Saturday’s FA Cup clash.

Danny Welbeck is Brighton’s captain tonight. What a player he is, seemingly getting better with age.

Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler speaks to the cameras:

Welbeck is a role model for the young players and everyone at the club. He has a good feeling for intensity and he is a great player on the pitch.

Further to those Chelsea points, here’s Jacob Steinberg.

So Brighton captain Lewis Dunk is not fit, as expected. Adam Webster comes in alongside Van Hecke. Joao Pedro is again on the bench, and Wieffer is also among the subs after a nine-game absence.

From that squad, Chelsea really do not have a wealth of attacking options. Nkunku really struggled in the FA Cup last weekend against Brighton, but Maresca persists/has no choice here. The only senior ‘attacker’ on Chelsea’s bench is Jadon Sancho and he is of course a wide man.

Interesting that Chalobah gets the nod ahead of Tosin Adarabioyo in central defence. It seems mad that Chelsea’s squad feels light after £1bn over spending since the Boehly era began.

The teams!

Preamble