Chelsea head south on Saturday with Graham Potter, unbeaten so far, set to face former club Brighton for the first time since making the switch to Stamford Bridge seven weeks ago. It has been a strenuous start for the Seagulls’ new head coach Roberto De Zerbi, who will have faced each of last season’s top four in October, and is winless in all five outings so far.

While Chelsea’s improvement on the continental stage has been impressive, Potter’s men have dropped four points in the past two domestic league matches and slipped out of the top four. The portents for the south coast fixture, though, are positive.

This is the fifth 3pm Saturday start of the Blues’ campaign and we have won each of the previous four. In fact, of the past 18 Premier League games at that kick-off time the Londoners have lost once (alongside 13 victories and four draws), scored 47 goals at an average of 2.6 per game.

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Chelsea have also won six and drawn four of our past 10 top-flight clashes with Brighton, and have never lost to them in the league. In fact, Albion have never even led during a Premier League game against the Blues. Yet while the Seagulls are sometimes characterised as ‘goal-shy’, the Blues have scored only one more league goal than Saturday’s hosts.

The world champions are, though, the second-best away side in the top flight this season, with 10 points claimed from half-a-dozen games, and rank third in form over the past eight league games. We have scored in each of our 10 games at Brighton across all competitions.

Chelsea team news

Four or five goals in Austria would not have been excessive reward for some of the best attacking play seen under Potter. Chances were squandered, we lost a lead again, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game, not least the head coach’s bold approach.

His set-up regularly resembled a front-four attack, producing more fluid forward play and increased chances compared to recent games against Villa, Brentford and Manchester Utd. At Brighton, Potter used attacking players Leandro Trossard and Solly March as wing-backs, and at Salzburg he filled either flank with Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling pushing on.
The Blues also beat Salzburg’s press with progressive passing sequences, delivering the ball to team-mates in the box moments later, while midfielders such as Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher regularly disrupted the Austrian side’s defensive lines.

Their goal was a reminder that wide defenders playing very high carries risk, as the Blues could not recover quickly enough after Thiago Silva’s missed challenge on the halfway line. The merits, though, ultimately outweighed the negatives. It was brave and effective football.

While resources remain depleted Potter will have been pleased to see Pulisic play a part in both goals, Gallagher serve up his best performance in royal blue, and Trevoh Chalobah continue his impressive run.

Most gratifying will be the spectacular strikes from Kova and Kai Havertz, with the promise of more to come. Hopefully the Croatian’s knock is not too serious and centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly could return this weekend. Having sat out midweek, Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell could also return to action in Sussex.

Sussex by the sea

Roberto De Zerbi is still seeking his first win after five attempts since taking over, and has a return of two points from a possible 15. Brighton have slipped from fourth to ninth in the table since losing Graham Potter and other key coaching staff, and had already sold key players such as Marc Cucurella, now installed in west London, and Yves Bissouma.

Midfielder Adam Lallana has claimed the Italian’s training sessions are longer and more tactical, and he makes fewer changes to personnel and approach than his predecessor. Albion still like to retain possession but play to wing-backs Leandro Trossard and Solly March (preferred to former Blue Tariq Lamptey) or lone striker Danny Welbeck more directly than before.

Set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, they press defences through Pascal Gross and Lallana and are always looking for triangles of passing or overlaps behind defences. All four of Brighton's Premier League goals under the new man, including a hat-trick at Anfield, were scored by Trossard, mostly from such movements.

Central midfielders Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister had played every minute until last time out against City, when Billy Gilmour (a deadline day signing from Chelsea by Potter) came on.

Lallana and right centre-back Joel Weltman were also subbed at the Etihad with problems that may prevent their participation this weekend. On-loan defender Levi Colwill is ineligible to face parent club Chelsea.

Southern comfort

Chelsea’s 2-1 loss at St Mary’s in August is the only defeat in our past five visits to any of the Premier League’s south-coast clubs: Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Chelsea’s past five league matches at south-coast clubs

Brighton D W D W W
Southampton L W D W W
Portsmouth W W W D W

Spot-on Jorgi

Following his third success of the campaign last weekend (and second ever against Man United’s David De Gea), Jorginho has now netted 27 penalties for Chelsea, nine of which were vital opening goals. He has failed only once from 12 yards in the 16 taken since Boxing Day 2020.

Golden Graham

With Tuesday’s success at Salzburg, Graham Potter became the second English coach to win a Champions League group with Chelsea (after Frank Lampard in 2020 – also in Group E), and only the third at any Premier League club. The other was Harry Redknapp with Tottenham in 2010.

The Midlander is also only the second Englishman to go undefeated in his first nine games as Blues boss – 117 years after the first. The original, in 1907, was Chelsea’s first club secretary William Lewis, who stepped into the managerial role when Jacky Robertson departed midway into our second season. Ironically, Lewis’s first defeat came in the 10th game against Lincoln, managed by the man who would succeed him, David Calderhead. Potter could go one better this weekend.

World Cup run-in

The winter Mondiale is creeping ever closer, with just three more fixtures before the Premier League takes a break. Clubs are vying for positions that will be locked in for six weeks from the close of play on Sunday 13 November to the resumption of top-flight football on Boxing Day.

Top six – their matches before world cup

Festive fixtures

The first three Premier League fixtures after the new FIFA World Cup winners have been crowned on 18 December have been announced and Chelsea will have a decent amount of recovery time between games.

Even with potential fourth round and quarter-final ties in the Carabao Cup, plus round three of the FA Cup, the diary looks relatively spacious.

Chelsea’s potential festive programme

20/21 December: Carabao Cup round four*

27 December: Bournemouth home (Premier League)

1 January: Nottingham Forest away (Premier League)

5 January: Manchester City home (Premier League)

7/8 January: FA Cup round three

10/11 January: Carabao Cup quarter-final*

*Dependant on progress

Next up in the Champions League

Next week’s group stage finale at Stamford Bridge, when fourth-placed Dinamo Zagreb are the visitors, will be followed by the Round of 16 draw on Monday 7 November from around 11am. With four of the qualifying teams and several finishing positions still to be determined, the only confirmed runners-up Chelsea can face are Internazionale and Borussia Dortmund.

Outcomes on Tuesday and Wednesday will decide whether Chelsea could be also paired with Porto or Bruges; Sporting Lisbon, Eintracht Frankfurt or Marseille; Real Madrid, Leipzig or Shakhtar; Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica; and maybe Napoli.

As usual Round of 16 games are ranged over a month, with fixtures on 14/15/21/22 February and 7/8/14/15 March 2023, and the Blues will host the second leg at the Bridge.

Matchweek 14 Premier League fixtures

Premier League fixtures Saturday 29 October

• Leicester v Man City 12.30pm (BT Sport)

• Bournemouth v Tottenham 3pm

• Brentford v Wolves 3pm

• Brighton v Chelsea 3pm

• Crystal Palace v Southampton 3pm

• Newcastle v Aston Villa 3pm

• Fulham v Everton 5.30pm (Sky)

• Liverpool v Leeds 7.45pm (Sky)

Premier League fixtures Sunday 30 October

• Arsenal v Nottingham Forest 2pm

• Man Utd v West Ham 4.45pm (Sky)