Brighton vs Chelsea FA Cup Preview and Prediction
The Blues have progressed past Brighton the last two times they’ve met in the FA Cup, though you do have to go back 52 years for the last such occasion – winning a third-round tie 2-0 in the 1972-73 FA Cup. They also defeated Brighton 4-0 via a replay in the fourth round in 1967.
Perhaps more concerning for Brighton is Chelsea’s remarkable record in this round of the competition. The London club have progressed from 25 of their last 27 fourth-round ties, with the only exceptions coming against Everton in 2010-11 and Bradford City in 2014-15.
However, Brighton should have plenty of reasons for optimism themselves. Since their promotion to the Premier League in 2017, they have won five of their six FA Cup fourth-round matches, their only defeat coming in a 3-1 loss to Tottenham in the 2021-22 season.
Chelsea head into this tie with concerns over strikers Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu after both sustained knocks in Monday’s 2-1 win over West Ham. Jackson was forced off early in the second half, though manager Enzo Maresca later revealed that both players assured him they were fine. Roméo Lavia, Benoît Badiashile and Wesley Fofana remain sidelined.
Brighton has an extensive injury list, with head coach Fabian Hürzeler saying after the humiliating 7-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest that he is trying to address the issue with muscle injuries in his squad. Pervis Estupiñán, Mats Wieffer and Solly March are close to returning, though it remains to be seen if any of the trio will be risked against Chelsea. Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari could be involved, but James Milner, Ferdi Kadioglu, Jason Steele and Igor Julio are all sidelined.
Brighton vs Chelsea Head-to-Head
The omens do not look particularly good if you are a Seagulls fan this weekend. Brighton have lost each of their past four encounters with Chelsea in all competitions.
Moreover, they have managed just one win from the last 11 home matches with the Blues at the Amex Stadium, a trend they will need to buck to get their name into the hat for round five.
PREDICTION: AWAY WIN OR DRAW @1.40
| TEAMS | LEAGUE | PREDICTION |
| Leyton Orient London vs Manchester City | FA CUP | OVER 2.5 @1.30 |
| Birmingham City vs Newcastle United | FA CUP | AWAY WIN @1.52 |
| Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur | FA CUP | 1X @1.22 |
| Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid | LA LIGA | UNDER 4.5 @1.15 |
| Sevilla FC vs FC Barcelona | LA LIGA | 2 DNB @1.22 |
| Lazio vs AC Monza | SERIE A | HOME WIN @1.34 |
| Napoli vs Udinese | SERIE A | HWEH @1.24 |
| Borussia Dortmund vs VfB Stuttgart | BUNDESLIGA | OVER 1.5 @1.14 |
| VfL Wolfsburg vs Bayer Leverkusen | BUNDESLIGA | OVER 1.5 @1.19 |
TOTAL ODDS= 10.58
