Chelsea vs Brighton: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction
An injury and Covid-ravaged Chelsea host Brighton in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.
The Blues are set to fulfil their ninth fixture, across three different competitions, in December alone with the visit of Brighton.
Graham Potter's Seagulls, by contrast, have only played four games in the final month of the year as a result of a pair of postponements over the hectic festive period.
Here's all you need to know about this upcoming clash.
How to watch Chelsea vs Brighton on TV/live stream
When is kick off? Wednesday 29 December, 19:30 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Stamford Bridge
TV channel/live stream? Amazon Prime Video (UK), Peacock Premium (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? Sky Sports Football YouTube
Referee? Mike Dean
VAR? Kevin Friend
Chelsea team news
Thomas Tuchel's first dose of England's famed and feared festive fixture list has been a nightmarish hell-scape with injuries and positive Covid-19 tests around every turn.
N'Golo Kante suffered a recurrence of an injury he picked up against Juventus during the weekend's win over Aston Villa. Thiago Silva was also forced off with a hamstring complaint.
While Ruben Loftus-Cheek continues to recover from an ankle injury, the Germany duo of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner are unlikely to feature after recently contracting coronavirus. Ben Chilwell is now expected to miss the rest of the season as he needs surgery for his recent ACL problem.
You can read Chelsea's predicted lineup here.
Brighton team news
Brighton's first victory since September against Brentford on Boxing Day may have cost Potter the previously undroppable Leandro Trossard. The Brighton boss revealed his forward had a tight hamstring that will require a 'last-minute decision' on his availability.
Yves Bissouma has served his one-game suspension but Shane Duffy missed out on the weekend's victory with suspected Covid-19. Joel Veltman is also a doubt as he recovers from muscle fatigue and captain Lewis Dunk joins Jeremy Sarmiento on the sidelines until 2022.
You can read Brighton's predicted lineup here.
Chelsea vs Brighton head-to-head record
To say Chelsea's record against Brighton is one-sided would be a gross understatement. The Blues have won 12 of the 16 meetings in their history with Brighton, losing just one - the first, which as an FA Cup tie in January 1933. Chelsea's 12 undefeated league games against Brighton (W10 D2) is the longest unbeaten run the Blues enjoy against any side in their history.
However, Brighton did end a sequence of 11 consecutive defeats against Chelsea thanks to Alireza Jahanbakhsh's 90th-minute overhead kick equaliser on New Year's Day 2020.
Chelsea vs Brighton score prediction
"It's not fair," Tuchel fumed in the wake of his side's 3-1 turnaround against Villa, a victory made even more remarkable - particularly in the eyes of their manager - by the vast array of handicaps besieging every team selection he makes.
If both squads were fully fit and firing Chelsea would emerge as comfortable favourites. However, while pulled muscles and positive PCRs in west London have considerably narrowed the gap between the sides, Tuchel's European champions are still the likelier victors.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Brighton