It will be embarrassing if Chelsea don’t beat Brighton
Here we go again. Another instalment of the Chelsea v Brighton ‘rivalry’ stoked by Todd Boehly paying way over the odds for anything which is not nailed down at the Amex with little to no success.
Blues fans rage and hate the Albion for the huge part Tony Bloom has played in making their club a laughing stock; Seagulls supporters, well, laugh.
Marc Cucurella. Graham Potter. Billy Reid. Bjorn Hamberg. Bruno. Ben Roberts. Paul Winstanley. Robert Sanchez. Moises Caicedo. Chelsea have bought nine members of staff from Brighton at a cost of over £200 million.
Their squad consisting of £1 billion worth of signings face a Seagulls side potentially missing 12 first choice players through injury and suspension. It would be embarrassing for Chelsea if they do not beat Brighton at Stamford Bridge given the circumstances.
But then again, the Albion have become rather adept at embarrassing Chelsea, starting with the £62 million banked for Cucurella last summer.
Graham Potter and his band of slithering snakes were then humiliated on their return to Sussex in October 2022, Brighton hammering Chelsea 4-1 in front of a raucous home crowd.
Potter had not lost a game as Blues boss up to that point. And he did not win many more after, leading to his sacking after just seven months in charge. We shouldn’t laugh, but… lol.
The Albion then went and won 2-1 in the return fixture back in April, securing their first ever league victory at Stamford Bridge in the process.
Julio Enciso scored an absolute worldie; it was something of a surprise that Boehly did not come in with a £274 million offer for the Paraguayan teenager based on that moment alone.
Further embarrassment was to come in the summer via the whole Caicedo transfer saga. Chelsea opened the bidding at £65 million, despite Brighton having turned down £70 million from Arsenal six months earlier and with the midfielder now on a longer term contract.
Although Bloom never names his asking price, it became public knowledge Caicedo was going nowhere for under £100 million.
Chelsea therefore bid £70 million. Bloom said no. Blues fans said the Albion would not be able to turn down £80 million from a club who have won two Champions League titles. Bloom still said no.
Boehly was not going to offer anymore than £90 million; take it or leave. Bloom left it. And guess what happened next? Chelsea ended up paying £115 million – a British transfer record. Chelsea once again had their pants pulled down by Brighton and the whole football world loved it.
Despite the ridiculous spending and the pillaging of what the Blues believed to be the secrets behind the Seagulls’ success, Chelsea still find themselves six points below Brighton in the table.
Mauricio Pochettino has his new side sitting a lowly 11th, although there have been some signs of improvement since the end of September.
Burnley and Fulham away were the sort of matches the Blues would have hilariously lost under Glow Up Graham or Frank Lampard last season; this time around, they took six points.
Chelsea have drawn 2-2 away at Arsenal and home to Manchester City in a 4-4 thriller. They also hammered Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, although that had as much to do with their hosts ending the night with nine men and Ange Postecoglou still going all-out attack despite the numerical disadvantage.
Just like Roberto De Zerbi last season, Pochettino has taken a Potter-managed side who struggled to score and turned them into entertainers.
Chelsea games right now feature goals at both ends. With De Zerbi’s commitment to attack, that could lead to quite the spectacle at Stamford Bridge.
Presuming De Zerbi can field a team of course. Missing for the trip to West London will be Lewis Dunk, Mahmoud Dahoud, Ansu Fati, Solly March, Danny Welbeck, Enciso, Tariq Lamptey, Adam Webster, Pervis Estupinan with De Zerbi also revealing Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma are doubts.
Options for Brighton to rotate are scarce and that means De Zerbi will have to rely on the majority of those who played on Thursday night in Athens to get through another 90 minutes just 72 hours later. Chelsea of course do not have the extra burden of European football this season. Another lol.
With all this in mind, if the Albion were to win away against Chelsea for only the second time in 121 years, it would top any of last season’s achievements against them.
Our dealings with Blues fans through the sales of Cucurella and Caicedo have shown them up as the most self-entitled fan base in the Premier League. Yes, worse than even Arsenal or Liverpool.
Imagine for a second the reaction amongst their supporters, once again, Brighton demean Chelsea. The pressure is all on Pochettino and his players… just how the Albion like it.
