Chelsea - Brighton. On the eve

In the second round of the English Premier League, Chelsea will host Brighton at Stamford Bridge. The teams approach the face-to-face confrontation in a good mood: the Londoners started with a bright victory in the derby against Fulham, and the guests generally arranged an unexpected defeat of Aston Villa - 4:0. Now one of the favorites of the season will have to undergo a serious test against the background of the excellent form of the opponent. CHELSEA - BRIGHTON SUNDAY 30 AUGUST 16:00 ▪️ STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON ▪️ HEAD REFEREE - MICHAEL OLIVER ▪️ LIVE ON SETANTA SPORTS Chelsea started the championship with a victory in a spectacular west London derby with Fulham — 3:2. Xabi Alonso's team opened the scoring in the first minute thanks to Juan Pedro, who was assisted by Cole Palmer. Later, goals were scored by Morgan Rogers and Palmer himself, and the guests twice reduced the deficit, making the home team nervous until the final whistle. The important three points were a good start for the new coach, although the five goals in the derby reminded again of the need for a balance between attack and defense. The scale of Chelsea's summer overhaul is hard to miss. The Londoners have already spent around 333 million pounds on transfers, and one of the main acquisitions was Morgan Rodgers, who moved from Aston Villa for a record 117 million pounds for English football. Maxence Lacroix, Geovani Kwenda, Valentin Barko and Marco Palestra have also been added to the squad, while the experienced Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson are expected to add maturity to a young squad. Now Alonso has to turn a set of bright names into a coherent team capable of fighting for the highest positions. Brighton showed in the first round what its attacking potential can be. Fabian Hürzeler's team literally swept away Aston Villa, scoring all four goals before the 31st minute. Jack Hinshelwood was particularly impressive, scoring a double in a lightning-fast opening stretch. After being sent off in the Villa lineup, Brighton got even more space and without much trouble brought the match to a crushing victory. Three points and a goal difference of +4 allowed the "Martins" to immediately become the leader of the table after the first round. In the summer, Brighton was also busy in the transfer market. The club seriously strengthened the center of the defense, inviting Pascal Streik, Luka Vushkovic and Mihael Svoboda, and traditionally added young promising players to the team. The return of the experienced Pascal Gross after two years at Borussia Dortmund was another major move. However, the guests have enough personnel problems: Yankuba Minte and Evan Ferguson will not play, and Carlos Baleba has already left the club to join Manchester United. Despite this, the start of the season has shown that Gürzeler has enough resources to cause problems even for one of the most expensive clubs in the league. Stamford Bridge is preparing for a meeting between two teams that have already had time to declare their ambitions, but have done so in completely different ways. Chelsea have home-field advantage, a huge selection of attacking players and a desire to build on a strong start, while Brighton will come to London with confidence after their thrashing of Aston Villa. In addition, the guests have recently become an uncomfortable opponent for the Londoners: Brighton won the previous four face-to-face matches, and scored three goals in each of the last three. So it's not going to be an easy walk for Chelsea - we're likely to see fast, open football with danger at both goals. According to bookmakers, Xabi Alonso's wards have more chances of success today. For example, Chelsea's victory in regular time is offered at odds of 1.85, while Brighton's potential success is estimated at 3.75. The probability of a draw is represented by a coefficient of 4.00. 📋 GUIDELINES CHELSEA: Sanchez - Achimpong, Lacroix, Colville - Gusteau, James, Lavia, Gato - Rodgers, Palmer - Juan Pedro BRIGHTON: Verbruggen - Wiffer, Vushkovic, Dunk, Boscaglia - Gross, Ayari - Gomez, Hinschelwood, De Keiper - Rutter ⚔️ PERSONAL MEETINGS 📊 CURRENT FORM forecast 2:2