Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion will be eager to build on a strong start to the 2026/27 season when they clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Gameweek 2 of the 2026/27 season will continue on Sunday with four games. The action on the day will start with three simultaneous matches, including Chelsea vs Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea began the 2026/27 season with a 3-2 win over Fulham. While their West London rivals gave them a run for their money, the Blues were impressive in the final third, with the player already starting to absorb Xabi Alonso’s methods.
However, a calamitous performance by Robert Sanchez has generated sufficient panic to force Chelsea to respond by signing Emiliano Martinez, with the Argentine international on the verge of arriving from Aston Villa. Meanwhile, the West London club produced a professional display to beat Luton Town 2-0 and progress to the EFL Cup third round earlier this week.
On the other hand, Brighton & Hove Albion came into the 2026/27 campaign as the most in-form Premier League team following an unbeaten pre-season campaign. That showed in their performance against Aston Villa, with the Seagulls cruising to a 4-0 win in Gameweek 1 to occupy the Premier League summit. They then followed that up with a 4-0 win in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying playoff over Tromso.
The corresponding fixture last season saw Brighton come from a goal down to beat Chelsea 3-1, with Danny Welbeck, now at the West London club, scoring a match-winning brace. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Chelsea
Xabi Alonso has no new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Chelsea manager will be bereft of the services of only two first-team players vs Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Marco Palestra (knock) and Jordan Henderson (wrist) are the only players in the treatment room, though they are likely to return before the international break. Meanwhile, Moises Caicedo should be fit and available to take on his former club. However, Enzo Fernandez may not feature again after Alonso omitted him from the matchday squad to take on Luton Town, with the links with Manchester City growing.
Robert Sanchez should retain his spot between the sticks if Martinez does not arrive in time to be registered for Gameweek 2. Chelsea will line up in a 3-4-2-1 formation in front of him vs Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, with the central defensive unit featuring Maxence Lacroix, Levi Colwill, and Jorrel Hato.
Malo Gusto and Pep Chavarria should start as the two wing-backs, with the wide duo providing width in the final third and protecting the centre-backs. As for the midfield unit, Reece James will line up alongside Caicedo. Finally, Joao Pedro will lead the line for Chelsea, with Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer completing the numbers in the offensive unit.
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Sanchez; Lacroix, Colwill, Hato; Gusto, James, Caicedo, Chavarria; Rogers, Palmer; Joao Pedro
Brighton & Hove Albion
Unlike his counterpart in the Chelsea dugout, Fabian Hurzeler has a new issue to worry about ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. The Brighton & Hove Albion head coach will be without five first-team players on Sunday.
Jack Hinshelwood is the latest absentee, with a report by The Athletic claiming he may be on the sidelines for 5-6 weeks. The Englishman accompanies Yankuba Minteh (calf), Kaoru Mitoma (thigh), Stefanos Tzimas (knee), and Evan Ferguson (ankle) in the treatment room. Meanwhile, Hurzeler has been sweating over Georginio Rutter’s fitness, though he should be fit and available to take on Chelsea.
Bart Verbruggen is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Brighton & Hove Albion lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Chelsea on Sunday. The backline will feature Mats Wieffer, Luka Vuskovic, Lewis Dunk, and Olivier Boscagli.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Pascal Gross and Yasin Ayari, with Georginio Rutter reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Charalampos Kostoulas will lead the line for Brighton, with Maxim De Cuyper and Diego Gomez being the two wide attackers.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Wieffer, Vuskovic, Dunk, Boscagli; Gross, Ayari; Gomez, Hinshelwood, De Cuyper; Rutter
Key Stats
- Having been unbeaten in their first 10 Premier League games against Brighton & Hove Albion (W6 D4), Chelsea have now lost five of their last eight vs them (W3). The Seagulls have won their last three Premier League games against Chelsea, netting exactly three goals each time. The last team to score thrice or more in four consecutive league games against the Blues were West Ham United between 1972 and 1974.
- Chelsea have only won their first home Premier League game of the season once in the last seven campaigns (D4 L2), beating Crystal Palace 3-0 in 2021/22.
- Brighton & Hove Albion have won eight of their last 13 Premier League games (25 points – D1 L4), after recording just one win in the previous 13 matches (D6 L6); since the start of that run (on February 21), only Arsenal (30), Manchester City (28), and Manchester United (26) have more points in the competition.
- Chelsea have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 17 Premier League games, their longest run in the top-flight since August 1991 (also 17), while they last endured a longer run in August 1961 (31 games).
- Only Brighton (3.54) recorded a higher open-play xG in Gameweek 1 of the 2026/27 Premier League campaign than Chelsea (1.96) despite having 38.1% of the possession, their lowest in a league victory since May 2025 against Liverpool (35.3%). Meanwhile, Brighton recorded the most high turnovers (19) and joint-most shot-ending high turnovers (5) of any side in Gameweek 1; only against Fulham in January 2021 and Chelsea in September 2024 have they recorded more high turnovers in a Premier League game (both 21).
Player to Watch
Cole Palmer
While Morgan Rogers, Maxim De Cuyper, and Pascal Gross were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Cole Palmer as the Player to Watch for Sunday’s Premier League clash between Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge.
Only against Wolverhampton Wanderers (8 – 5 goals, 3 assists) does the Englishman have more Premier League goal involvement than Brighton (5 goals, 0 assists). In Gameweek 1, he was joint-first for goal involvements (2), second for successful take-ons (5), and joint-second for touches in the opposition’s box (9). With Palmer looking in impressive form, he is unsurprisingly a top candidate for FPL captaincy this weekend.
Prediction
Chelsea 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Sunday’s opening fixture may be one of the closest matches in the Premier League in Gameweek 2 of the 2026/27 season. With both teams showing impeccable pedigree in their opening outings last week, there should be no shortage of chance creation.
However, unlike Aston Villa, Chelsea will have more quality in the final third and can punish Brighton for retaining significantly less possession. That said, the home side’s defensive deficiencies are easy to exploit, and Brighton should make merry with their openings in the advanced areas. So, all things considered, the signs point to a closely contested affair that will end in a 1-1 draw.