Ahead of today’s game, we compare and contrast two players who have played in attack for their respective sides in recent games and who have a notable past against the opposition they play against today.

Raheem Sterling featured as one of a front two selected by Frank Lampard in Madrid midweek and if he is asked to fulfil a similar role today at Stamford Bridge, he will go into the match having netted four goals in his past six Premier League outings against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Danny Welbeck’s contribution for the Seagulls in games against Chelsea may be remembered by Blues fans but not for good reasons. Last season the former England international’s 91st-minute equaliser was Brighton’s first-ever goal at Stamford Bridge. The cross was from Marc Cucurella.

Moving on to the current campaign for our head-to-head comparison, with both players having missed part of the season due to injury, they have enjoyed a remarkably similar amount of time on the pitch.

Welbeck’s 22 Premier League appearances is one more than Sterling’s but overall, taking into account substitutions made, the Brighton man has played just four minutes more than our guy.

Shooting sums

When it comes to goalscoring, the figures are marginally in Sterling’s favour. He has struck four times in the league while Welbeck has netted three. Welbeck can add one more goal from another competition, a penalty in a League Cup win at his former club Arsenal, but Sterling can point to three goals in the Champions League.

The Chelsea attacker’s goals have come from fewer shots on target. While he has been used in a variety of roles during the Blues’ season, Welbeck has largely been deployed as a single central striker by Roberto De Zebri. From there he has fired 17 efforts on-target shots to Sterling’s more efficient 12 when it comes to goal conversion. For shots overall, Raheem’s accuracy of 63 per cent on target is 10 per cent greater than his counterpart.

Given Sterling is on occasions asked to operate out wide, it is not a surprise to see he has seven successful crosses to his name - a quarter of those he has attempted - while Welbeck has no successful crosses this campaign. Both players have registered two assists, and when counting Sterling’s key passes leading to chances the number is 25. Welbeck has 16.

Drawing fouls

Again given the position and style of play, it is to be expected the Chelsea player has emerged successful from more dribbles, 28 to 19, although Welbeck has won the only penalty between them this season. Sterling has won more than double the number of free-kicks. Welbeck shades it when it comes to passing accuracy in the opposition’s half – 81 per cent compared with 71.

While the two players are selected for their attacking rather than defensive attributes, Welbeck’s extra six inches in height have helped him play a bigger part in keeping the opposition at bay with 13 clearances, compared with Raheem clearing twice in Premier League games.

So overall a pretty balanced set of figures when compared head-to-head, with each player no doubt determined to add to their scoring past when it comes to facing the team in front of them on Saturday afternoon.