Chelsea are without both Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro as Liam Rosenior’s side bid to end their losing Premier League run against Brighton and keep their faint hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League alive.
Rosenior is under pressure after a run of four straight top-flight defeats, including a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Manchester United at Stamford Bridge last time out, and he will be without two of his key attackers in Palmer and Pedro for the trip to in-form Brighton.
The Seagulls can go above Chelsea with a win victory tonight and Fabian Hurzeler’s side remain in the hunt for European football themselves this season, in what is turning into a tightly packed race for sixth place.
Rosenior confirmed that Palmer has been rested ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds after feeling discomfort in his hamstring. “Cole’s had some tightness so he’s going to be out for this game and see how he moves on for this FA Cup semi-final,” Rosenior said.
Follow all the action below.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
28 mins: It’s getting heated between former team-mates Gross and Caicedo, with the referee breaking the former Brighton colleagues up. Fernandez is then caught from behind and is left in a heap rubbing the back of his foot.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
25 mins: Delap carries forwards and Han Hecke concedes the corner. Brighton are able to clear consecutive deliveries by Neto and Chelsea are forced back to Sanchez, who boots the ball straight back to Brighton.
Chelsea just went from Caicedo, to Cucurella, to Sanchez, triggering a chain of boos.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
23 mins: Another decent moment for Brighton as Minteh comes inside and curls towards goal. Fofana is forced to hack behind.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
19 mins: CHANCE! It should be 2-0! What is Sanchez doing?! He passes straight to a Baleba and he squares to Hinshelwood, but he can’t finish! It’s off the line by Chalobah!
Chelsea are still alive but Brighton could have been out of sight.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
16 mins: CHANCE! Delap loses the ball far too easily and Brighton can counter-attack. It ends up with Rutter firing over from inside the box. The traveling Chelsea fans cannot believe what they are seeing.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
14 mins: SAVE! Sanchez has to tip over from Van Hecke! Chelsea are all over the place in defence and midfield – Brighton sliced right through them with ease. Sanchez has kept them in it.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
13 mins: Whistles as Chalobah passes the ball straight out of play. Rosenior shouts some encouragement but Brighton are finding this very easy early on.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
11 mins: Brighton are pinging the ball around quite comfortably, with the home fans even starting to cheer the odd pass around the back. Delap is frustrated by the offside flag and there are some boos for the returning Cucurella.
Brighton 1-0 Chelsea
7 mins: Brighton have made a very sharp start and have carried their excellent form into this meeting with Chelsea, who are in serious danger of losing five in a row now. Palmer and Pedro are looking very glum sitting high up in the stands.
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Chelsea (KADIOGLU 4′)
BRIGHTON STRIKE FROM THE CORNER AND CHELSEA ARE BEHIND INSIDE THREE MINUTES!
The corner from the left is not cleared by Chelsea and the front-post flick-on falls to Kadioglu, who thrashes in!
Fofana tries to clear off the line but could not block the shot as it beat Sanchez. As it stands, Brighton are going above Chelsea.
“Another game without a clean sheet for Liam Rosenior”
Ferdi Kadıoğlu gives Brighton the lead inside three minutes! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/aCsFpOdP2X
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 21, 2026
