When the two teams meet on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will be looking to get past Brighton & Hove Albion into the Carabao Cup third round.

The Pensioners’ dismal start to the 2023–24 Premier League season continued on Sunday when they suffered a 0–1 home loss to Aston Villa. This means that after six Premier League games, Mauricio Pochettino’s team has only collected five points.

In the cup match against Brighton, who are coming off a 3-1 league victory over Bournemouth, Pochettino, who is under pressure due to the team’s recent poor form, will be looking for a strong response from his team after they lost to Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Team News for Chelsea

Following a VAR review of his foul on Lucas Digne, Malo Gusto was shown the red card during Chelsea’s 0-1 loss to Aston Villa. The first game of the French fullback’s three-game suspension will be against Brighton. Nicolas Jackson will serve a one-game suspension against Fulham in the Premier League this weekend after receiving his fifth caution in only six appearances on Sunday.

Chelsea is also without a number of important players due to injuries to Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia, Carney Chukwuemeka, and Christopher Nkunku.

Due to a muscle issue, Noni Madueke missed back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Aston Villa and is still questionable for Sunday’s match against Brighton. Marc Cucurella, however, was re-added to the team on Sunday.

Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Brighton (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper

As Chelsea are struck with a myriad of injury problems and are also severely struggling for form, Mauricio Pochettino has no other option but to shuffle his pack with whatever resources he has available in the Carabao Cup third-round fixture.

The game against Brighton at Stamford Bridge could be the perfect chance to introduce Djordje Petrovic to Chelsea fans, after the Serbian signed on as Robert Sanchez’s back-up in the summer.

Defence

With injuries to the current defence rife, the chances are that this will remain unchanged from the Aston Villa loss, meaning in front of Petrovic will be Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva and Levi Colwill in the Chelsea lineup.

Malo Gusto’s suspension should see Disasi deputise at right-back, while Ben Chilwell comes in at left-back in the Chelsea lineup.

In the meantime, Chelsea will try to prevent Brighton from scoring by pairing Colwill and Silva in the center of defense.

Midfield

There are more alternatives in midfield. Lesley Ugochukwu and Moises Caicedo will likely form a double pivot in Chelsea’s engine room, with the Ecuadorian taking on the duty of holding down the fort.

In place of Enzo Fernandez from the previous match, Cole Palmer may be given the go-ahead to start in the No. 10 position for Chelsea. The young Englishman will serve as the link between the defense and the offense, and the former Man City player will want to make an impression on the boss following his high-profile transfer.

Attack

It’s possible that Ian Maatsen will replace Raheem Sterling in the Chelsea starting lineup. Conor Gallagher might play as the right-sided wide midfielder for the Blues, giving them extra vigor and ferocity. Again taking the offensive lead, Nicolas Jackson will try to snap a four-game goal drought.

Armando Broja appeared for Chelsea versus Villa on Sunday after missing 10 months due to an ACL injury. If the manager uses him towards the middle of the week, he’ll be hoping to have an impact.