Chelsea, after edging past Norwich City on Wednesday evening in an FA Cup 3rd round replay are back in action this Saturday lunch-time.
In a Premier League fixture, Chelsea are down on the south-coast taking on Brighton.
Recent performances have, to put it mildly, not been very awe-inspiring, in fact they`ve been turgid and have yet to produce a win this year.
Quite who Antonio Conte will turn to and try to resurrect the situation, remains to be seen.
Ahead of what could be an interesting fixture, we have some early team news.
Starting with our hosts Brighton:
Chris Hughton will, no doubt, be relishing taking on Chelsea whilst they are on this poor run of form. However, he will be without the services of a player who was once on the books of Chelsea, Steve Sidwell.
The midfielder, whilst recovering from a back injury, has suffered a broken ankle. Our commiserations go to Steve.
Continuing with Chelsea:
Antonio`s hopes of getting his side back firing on all cylinders have been hampered by injuries and suspensions.
Out through suspension are the Spanish duo of Alvaro Morata and Pedro who were both shown red cards in what was manic period of extra time, against Norwich City.
Also missing, courtesy of a hamstring problem, is the one player who gives Chelsea that edge when it comes to creating chances, Cesc Fabregas.
Joining Cesc on the side-lines, also courtesy of a hamstring problem is Gary Cahill.
But, amongst all the carnage described above, there may be a Chelsea debut for our first January transfer window signing, Ross Barkley.
Let`s hope the midfielder can produce, if given the chance, the drive we`ve been missing recently and make himself an instant hero.
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