Graham Potter’s worst-case scenario on his return to Brighton came true as his Chelsea side were comfortably beaten 4-1 by the Seagulls on Saturday. Goals from Leandro Trossard and Pascal Gross sandwiched two unfortunate own goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as Potter suffered his first loss as Blues boss.
After a horrendous first half for Chelsea, which saw them 3-0 behind, hope was restored at the beginning of the second half when Kai Havertz powered home Conor Gallagher's cross but the damage had already been done and the defeat was compounded by Gross' goal in added time.
From the opening whistle, Chelsea were completely overwhelmed by Brighton and were fortunate to not be behind before Trossard opened the scoring after just five minutes with Thiago Silva making two goal line clearances.
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After displaying great footwork and composure for his goal, the Belgian midfielder had an afternoon to remember at the Amex on Saturday, causing multiple problems for Chelsea's defence and with Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi sticking with the system Potter had been using, it would have certainly been odd for the 47-year-old to watch his new team be torn apart by a style he introduced at his former club.
While the defeat was an embarrassing one for Chelsea, it has most definitely given Potter and Todd Boehly some food for thought, especially with Trossard's tantalizing performance. Despite Thomas Tuchel's sacking, Potter is still working with the same players and is likely to face the same problems as the German, especially with the injury struggles usual starters Reece James and Ben Chilwell have had.
The system Potter wants to use requires an awful lot from his wingbacks and at this moment in time, it's likely only few players in the world can perform to the standard he wants to see and Trossard is one of them.
Chilwell could certainly reach the levels he showed before his knee injury but Raheem Sterling has thus far not looked comfortable in the position and with Marc Cucurella at left centre-back, the temptation to bring in Trossard - with whom he built up a brilliant understanding with at Brighton - is likely to be great, especially after his dominant display against Chelsea at the weekend.
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