An uncompetitive Chelsea were embarrassed on Tuesday night, falling 3–0 against Brighton & Hove Albion to collect their fifth straight Premier League defeat.
The game was essentially over when Ferdi Kadıoğlu put the hosts ahead just three minutes into the match. Chelsea were categorically dominated in the first half and it was a minor miracle they went into the break trailing by just one.
But Liam Rosenior’s side didn’t improve out of the tunnel and things went from bad to worse. Jack Hinshelwood doubled Brighton’s advantage and Danny Welbeck added a third in stoppage time to complete Chelsea‘s humiliation.
The free-falling Blues have lost six of their last seven Premier League games and have been overtaken by Brighton in the standings. The Blues could now be outside of the top-10 by their next league match.
Any hopes of Champions League qualification seem utopian at this point, and Rosenior’s days on Chelsea’s touchline could be numbered.
The One Thing We Can’t Ignore
There were a handful of matches under Graham Potter and Frank Lampard in 2022–23 where Chelsea were beyond terrible, but the performance against Brighton on Tuesday is arguably the worst Chelsea have looked not only this season, but during the nearly four full seasons of the BlueCo ownership era.
Without the injured João Pedro and Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s hopes of snapping a run of four games without scoring a goal in the Premier League took a massive hit. The result? Chelsea produced an xG of 0.04—which seems generous—from one blocked shot in the first half.
Rosenior prioritized a stout backline given the attacking injuries, including five natural defenders in his starting XI plus two natural defensive midfielders. But the overly cautious set-up didn’t translate to a stout backline, as Chelsea surrendered the opener just three minutes into the game and were fortunate to not have conceded even earlier than that.
Brighton had six total shots, four of them on goal and two big chances missed by the 20 minute mark. The 1.31 xG the hosts crafted in the first 20 minutes represent the second-most any team has produced in the Premier League this season inside that timeframe.
It was an embarrassing showing from a team that looks devoid of any confidence; to the contrary, Rosenior and the Blues looked frankly scared, starting from the manager’s selected gameplan to the way the players looked on the pitch at Amex Stadium. Chelsea have now failed to score in five consecutive Premier League games and have failed to keep a clean sheet in 12 league matches in a row. That’s relegation-worthy form.
Time is running out for Chelsea to salvage a previously promising season, but there’s no tangible evidence that suggests there’s any way to stop the free-fall. Simply put, it’s one of the worst stretches of Chelsea’s modern history.
Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Brighton (4-4-1-1)
GK: Robert Sánchez—6.4: Kept Chelsea in the game early but also made an egregious mistake that should’ve resulted in Brighton’s early second were it not for Trevoh Chalobah’s intervention. His distribution was terrible all night.
RB: Malo Gusto—6.6: Caught out of position often and Kaoru Mitoma was able to get the better of him on a number of occasions. Didn’t provide anything going forward.
CB: Wesley Fofana—6.5: Struggled tremendously during Brighton’s early onslaught, was careless on the ball, received a warranted yellow card and was hooked at half time.
CB: Trevoh Chalobah—6.6: Looked rusty on the ball and at time overwhelmed defensively, especially in the action of Brighton’s second. Still, he made a crucial goal-line clearance to keep Chelsea in the game in the first half.
LB: Jorrel Hato—6.4: Hato’s dreadful clearance attempt from a corner set-up Brighton’s opener. He settled after that but it was still not good enough from the young Dutch.
RM: Pedro Neto—6.1: Exploiting Neto’s pace seemed to be Chelsea’s attacking game-plan on Tuesday. But isolated on the wing and forced to make 70-yard runs, he never looked close to creating any danger.
DM: Moisés Caicedo—6.6: Slow, careless and seemingly more interested in fighting with former teammate Pascal Groß. A torrid display from the usually reliable Ecuadorian.
DM: Roméo Lavia—6.6: Failed to provide much of anything in midfield, constantly a step late defensively and settling for sideways passes in possession.
LM: Marc Cucurella—6.3: Deployed as Chelsea’s most advanced player on the left wing, the fullback struggled to make his presence felt. The boos directed his way from Brighton fans are the most noteworthy part of his performance.
AM: Enzo Fernández—6.1: Operated on an island ahead of the base of midfield and behind the striker—with significant distances between them. He tried to force too many passes and was unable to create much of anything in the final third apart from a few isolated actions that didn’t translate to anything.
ST: Liam Delap—6.1: A lone wolf up top. Forced to fight by himself against Brighton’s defenders, he was unsurprisingly ineffective. Set-up to fail.
SUB: Alejandro Garnacho (46’ for Fofana)—5.6: More of the same from Garnacho, who squandered the chances he had with either a clumsy first touch or a poor finish.
SUB: Dário Essugo (73’ for Lavia)—6.0: Game was over by the time he entered but that didn’t stop him from joining the nightmare Chelsea showing with some rather clumsy turnovers.
SUB: Marc Guiu (73’ for Delap)—6.4: Had four touches in his 20 minutes on the pitch.
SUB: Josh Acheampong (90’ for Gusto)—N/A
Subs not used: Teddy Sharman-Lowe (GK), Mamadou Sarr, Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jesse Derry.
What These Ratings Tell Us
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- Moisés Caicedo’s decline in the second half of the season has coincided with Chelsea’s nosedive, which is hardly a coincidence. The Ecuadorian has struggled since the start of the Rosenior era and played his worst game of the season on Tuesday. The Blues aren’t going anywhere without Caicedo in top form.
- Despite the constant investment on attacking alternatives that flirt with the $1 billion mark since the start of the BlueCo era, Chelsea have looked toothless in attack over the past month. Without Pedro and Palmer, an already misfiring attack was further compromised and were made to look like amateurs. The Blues desperately need their injured attackers back.
- Roméo Lavia made his fourth league start of the season and looked uncompetitive at times. His potential has been hindered by injuries, and Rosenior’s decision to start him ahead of Andrey Santos is puzzling, given the Brazilian has had good spells this year.
The Numbers That Explain Chelsea’s Embarrassing Defeat
- By the time Chelsea completed their third pass of the game, Brighton already had registered two shots on target and scored the first goal of the game.
- Chelsea failed to produce a single shot on goal across the entirety of the match, leading to a 0.38 xG.
- It still could’ve been worse for Chelsea given Brighton missed two clear chances, including an open-goal in the first half.
- Chelsea have gone five Premier League games without scoring a goal, their longest scoreless streak since 1912.
| Statistic | Brighton | Chelsea |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 54% | 46% |
| Expected Goals (xG) | 2.17 | 0.38 |
| Total Shots | 15 | 6 |
| Shots on Target | 9 | 0 |
| Big Chances | 4 | 0 |
| Pass Accuracy | 86% | 84% |
| Fouls Committed | 15 | 5 |
| Corners | 6 | 5 |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Brighton: Humiliating Defeat All But Ends Blues Champions League Dreams.
