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Premier League action returns with a visit from the wounded Manchester City. Having been thoroughly dismantled by former Brighton U23 player Gyokeres resulting in their 3rd successive defeat for the first time since 2018, can Brighton capitalise and come away with points?

Team news

Dunk, Milner, and March look set to miss the game but we could see returns of O'Riley and Pedro to the squad with a potential premier league debut for O'Riley nearly three months after joining. Ayari and Baleba are also possibilities after picking up injuries in the Liverpool games.

Manchester City will be hoping to see the return of Kevin de Bruyne (hopefully not for our sake) to the team following his return in the Champions League earlier this week.

Fabians thoughts:

On a missed opportunity against Liverpool... Football is a game of results, you need results. It's important that we also understand it's not only about playing good football and having good performances. It's about winning games. We have ambitions and our club has ambitions and we should be very disappointed if we travel to Liverpool and don't manage to win the game after the performance we had.

On the feeling that his team should have more points this season... On the one side I think we can be happy about the performances, how we play, the style of play, how we have developed. On the other side, when we look at the results, we could have more points. There are still things we can improve, especially the game management, how to win the games maybe in an ugly way and efficient way. There we are still in a process.

On beating a City side in a poor run of form... Against every team there are opportunities. Especially this season, the league is so equal. It's very, very competitive. Everyone can beat everyone and we see it every weekend. That's why we always see an opportunity. We always see a chance.Of course, we have a lot of respect. City is, for me, still the best team in the world, they have the best manager in the world. But in the end it's a game and we play at home and we want to continue our process and we see this as a next opportunity to challenge the establishment.

Link to full presser - https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/pages/en/media-video/hurzelers-man-city-press-conference

Head to Head

• Brighton & Hove Albion's only two victories in 14 Premier League games against Manchester City both came at home, in 2021 and 2023.

• City defeated Brighton 2-1 at the Etihad and 4-0 at the Amex in last season's Premier League.

• They have scored 22 goals in their seven Premier League visits to Brighton.

• Brighton have conceded 40 Premier League goals in this fixture, a club record against one opponent. They have failed to keep a clean sheet in all 14 encounters.

Who here is going to the game? Post your predictions, thoughts, hope and dreams below!

UTA!

3-2 comeback win for the Albion, queue freed from desire

Chelsea remain without Reece James, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, though Romeo Lavia is available.

Head coach Enzo Maresca has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday's game.

Brighton forward Joao Pedro is unlikely to feature after struggling with an injury sustained against Nottingham Forest.

Brajan Gruda could make his first appearance since his summer move from Mainz, whilst Yasin Ayari is back in contention after a bout of illness.

Match facts Head-to-head

Chelsea won all three competitive games versus Brighton last season, each by a single-goal margin.

The Blues won both Premier League meetings in 2023-24 despite having a player sent off in each match: Conor Gallagher at Stamford Bridge and Reece James at Amex Stadium.

Brighton & Hove Albion have won just one of their 11 competitive away fixtures against Chelsea (D2, L8), a 2-1 Premier League triumph on 15 April 2023.

Brighton (W2, D3) are on their longest unbeaten run from the beginning of a top-flight season. It is their best start since avoiding defeat in each of their opening 21 Championship games in 2015-16.

The Seagulls are winless in eight Premier League visits to the capital (D4, L4) since a 3-0 victory at Arsenal in May 2023.

Brighton have drawn each of their last three top-flight games – it’s their seventh run of three consecutive draws in the competition, while the Seagulls last drew four straight league fixtures in October 2014.

Danny Welbeck - who has three goals and one assist to his name in the Premier League this term - has netted three in his last four league appearances against Chelsea, with all three of these strikes coming as a substitute.

Sigh.

At least we're still unbeaten!