Roberto De Zerbi
After another tough result, Chelsea will be hoping to find some luck in the Carabao Cup when they host Brighton and Hove Albion.
Despite a decent performance, 10-men Chelsea fell to a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa on Sunday, meaning the Blues have only won one of their first six Premier League games this season. The Blues currently sit 14th in the table with just five points as the misery piles on for Mauricio Pochettino.
The manager’s squad issues weren’t helped as Malo Gusto received a red card on Sunday, but Chelsea will turn their attention away from the league on Wednesday when they face Brighton in the third round of the Carabao Cup. The Blues have failed to beat the Seagulls in their last five competitive meetings, with the last clash ending in a 2-1 win for Brighton at Stamford Bridge.
So, could Chelsea pick up a win in the Carabao Cup, or will their poor start to the season carry on? Let’s take a look.
To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 24 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that the Blues could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Sanchez; Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Chilwell; Caicedo, Gallagher, Fernandez; Sterling, Jackson, Palmer.
We predict that the Seagulls could line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows:ti, Mito Steele; Lamptey, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Gilmour; March, Fama; Pedro.
Chelsea started the game on top, but they were their own worst enemy with Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson all guilty of missing big chances. This continued into the second half, with Sterling missing one of the biggest chances of them all.
After playing a one-two with Moises Caicedo on the left, Ben Chilwell floated a fantastic cross to Sterling at the back post, but the winger fluffed his lines and headed well wide of goal. After 90 minutes, the game ended 0-0 despite Chelsea’s xG of 3.7 and went to penalties.
Chelsea were handed an advantage in the shootout as Pascal Gross missed the target with the opening penalty, but after going 2-1 ahead, Chilwell and Conor Gallagher both missed
At 2-2, Jackson skied his spot kick to hand Brighton the advantage, and Kaoru Mitoma scored the decisive penalty to eliminate the Blues from the competition in the cruellest of ways.
