Chelsea host Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, August 30 (9:00 AM ET \/ 8:00 AM CT \/ 6:00 AM PT).<\/p>\n
Chelsea will be without the suspended Wesley Fofana and the injured Jordan Henderson, with the doubtful Danny Welbeck also a fitness concern; Jo\u00e3o Pedro, Cole Palmer, Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez and Pedro Neto remain the men the hosts will lean on up top. Brighton, in turn, are missing the injured Evan Ferguson, Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh, while the doubtful Kaoru Mitoma is another to watch on the team sheet; Jack Hinshelwood, Pascal Gro\u00df, Georginio Rutter and Mats Wieffer look the most likely to carry the visitors’ threat.<\/p>\n
This is a fixture between two very different starting points. Chelsea open the season with zero points on the board, while Brighton, by contrast, arrive full of confidence after a four-nil win over Aston Villa that leaves them on three points and a goal difference of plus four. Last season’s reverse fixture went the visitors’ way, Brighton winning three-nil, and they will fancy the idea of causing more discomfort. But the attacking talent Chelsea can call on, led by Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez and Jo\u00e3o Pedro, gives the hosts every reason to believe they can get their season up and running with a win.<\/p>\n\n\n