Christopher Nkunku is likely to lead the line for Chelsea in their Premier League clash at Brighton, with Nicolas Jackson ruled out until April.
Nkunku produced an underwhelming performance as the Blues crashed out of the FA Cup to the Seagulls in their last match on Saturday.
Chelsea face Brighton for the second game in a row on Friday night, this time in the top-flight, looking to get revenge over the south coast club.
Blues head coach Enzo Maresca has confirmed Reece James is available for the showdown at the Amex after he was rested for the FA Cup meeting.
Maresca also revealed that Filip Jorgensen will start in goal instead of Robert Sanchez, having made the former his No.1 goalkeeper.
Chelsea are still missing long-term absentees Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile while Mykhailo Mudryk is provisionally suspended.
Brighton, meanwhile, are also dealing with a number of injury problems with head coach Fabian Hurzeler confirming that the Premier League clash against Chelsea will come too soon for Solly March.
Pervis Estupinan is ruled out while Lewis Dunk is a ‘doubt’ after suffering an injury to his ribs in the FA Cup triumph over Chelsea.
Adam Webster and Tariq Lamptey are likely to be named in the Brighton XI instead of Dunk and Estupinan respectively.
Mats Wieffer could be an option for the bench for Brighton, with the midfielder having stepped up his recovery from injury.
Brighton are aiming to get back to winning ways in the top-flight after a humiliating 7-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in their last Premier League game.
Chelsea are hoping to win back-to-back Premier League games, defeating West Ham 2-1 in their most recent top-flight fixture.
The Blues are fourth in the Premier League table heading into the match against Brighton – and although there are unable to leapfrog third-placed Forest with a win – they are hoping to extend their two-point lead over Manchester City and Newcastle United, who currently sit fifth and sixth.
Jorgensen, James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Madueke, Palmer, Neto, Nkunku
Verbruggen, Veltman, Van Hecke, Webster, Lamptey, Baleba, Gomez, Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma, Pedro
Opta’s Supercomputer is backing Chelsea to defeat Brighton, with the Blues emerging victorious in 41.1 per cent of their simulations.
The Seagulls, though, are unbeaten in their last three top-flight home games against teams starting the day in the top four – and will be full of confidence having just knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup.
It is likely to be a close-fought match, with a narrow victory for Chelsea seeming to be the most probable outcome.
Metro’s prediction: Brighton 1-2 Chelsea
Brighton vs Chelsea kicks off at 8pm on Friday, February 14.
The Valentine’s Day clash will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event, with a live stream available on the Sky Go app and NOW TV.
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