Michael Owen makes worrying prediction for Brighton against Chelsea but issues bold Neal Maupay verdict

Michael Owen feels Brighton could be in for a tough time at Chelsea

Albion will be full confidence following their clicical 2-0 victory against Brentford on Boxing Day but Chelsea also reocreded a fine win with a Lukaku inspired 3-1 win at Aston Villa.

"It wasn’t an easy game, but that was a huge win for Chelsea against Villa," wrote Owen in his Bet Victor predictions blog. Lukaku hasn’t been at his best of late, but he looked superb against Villa.

"He’s so quick, so strong and his movement was giving the Villa defence all sorts of problems. Chelsea look a totally different side when he’s in that mood.

"Brighton have been having a rough spell, so to get the win over Brentford will be a relief for Graham Potter. It was two very well taken goals, and Neal Maupay now has seven for the season. He’s an underrated striker and can be a real handful.

"I’d expect to see a Chelsea win here. It won’t be emphatic, Brighton are too organised, but Chelsea will get a couple of goals. 2-0 Chelsea."

Brighton must wait to discover if influential forward Leandro Trossard will be fit for their Premier League trip to Chelsea.

The Belgium international set Albion on course for the 2-0 Boxing Day win over Brentford with a delightful volley before being withdrawn at the break due to a hamstring issue.

Seagulls head coach Graham Potter described the substitution as precautionary but is unsure whether key man Trossard will be available for Wednesday’s visit to Stamford Bridge.

“He just had a tightness in his hamstring,” Potter said of the 27-year-old.

“It (his availability for Chelsea) will depend on the recovery. He’s not been feeling the best this week, so we’ll add it all up and see how it goes, see how the next 24, 48 hours is.

“We’ll have to make a last-minute decision but that’s what it has been pretty much every week with certain things for different reasons. We’ll see.”

Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante will be injury doubts for Chelsea.

Defender Silva hobbled out of the 3-1 Boxing Day win at Aston Villa with a thigh issue, though Chelsea hope to have caught the problem before a major flare-up.

Kante will be checked for a knee issue, while Timo Werner and Kai Havertz could return after Covid isolation but Ruben Loftus-Cheek is a doubt with a foot injury.