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Wednesday 1 January 2020 15:44, UK
Image:Solly March remains out with a groin injury for Brighton's game with Chelsea
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Brighton vs Chelsea in the Premier League on New Year's Day (kick-off 12.30pm).
Team news
Brighton have no new injury worries ahead of hosting Chelsea in the Premier League on January 1.
Midfielder Solly March is still recovering after undergoing groin surgery earlier this month and, although he was involved in a part of training on Monday, he remains unavailable.
Colombian winger Jose Izquierdo has not featured for Brighton since April and continues to recover from a knee injury, with no return date set.
Image:Chelsea midfielder Christian Pulisic has overcome a hamstring problem
Christian Pulisic could be available for Chelsea's trip to the Amex after a hamstring problem.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Brighton's win over Bournemouth in the Premier League
Opta stats
Brighton's only victory in any competition against Chelsea came in the FA Cup in January 1933 (2-1) - since then they've drawn one and lost 11 of their 12 meetings.
Chelsea have won all nine of their league meetings with Brighton - the best such 100% record in English football league history.
Brighton have only lost their first league game of a calendar year in one of the last 10 years (W6 D3), going down 0-1 at home to Wolves on New Year's Day in 2016.
This is Chelsea's first Premier League game on New Year's Day since 2015, when they lost 3-5 at Tottenham under José Mourinho. Indeed, the Blues have only won their first league game of a calendar year once in the last five years (D2 L2 - 3-0 vs Crystal Palace in 2016).
1st January 2020 marks exactly 10,000 days since the start of the Premier League (15th August 1992). 49 clubs have played in the competition, with Chelsea one of just six to have played in every single season since its inception (Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur).
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A look at some of the key stats surrounding this week's Premier League action, including Liverpool's game against Sheffield United and Man Utd's trip to Arsenal.
Brighton have won just one of their 17 Premier League games against sides starting the day in the top four of the table (D2 L14), losing each of their last 11 in a row since beating Man Utd 1-0 in May 2018.
Chelsea have won seven of their last nine away Premier League games (L2) - only Liverpool (25) have more away points than the Blues this season (21).
Brighton have never won a Premier League match in January in eight attempts (D3 L5) - there are only two instances of teams playing more in a month without winning; Brighton themselves in April (10) and Hull City in May (16).
Brighton midfielder Aaron Mooy scored his first Premier League goal since April in their 2-0 win over Bournemouth, ending a run of 17 games and 17 shots without a goal; the Australian also created five chances in the match, more than any other player.
Tammy Abraham's 12 Premier League goals have been worth 12 points to Chelsea so far this season - no other players goals have been more valuable to their side (level with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sadio Mané).
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Chelsea's win at Arsenal.
Chelsea have still got a decent amount of quality. They walked away from Arsenal chuffed to bits, as they never really played well, apart from upping it for the last 20 minutes.
Frank Lampard changed it and they pushed and pushed. They are getting really good results - even when they played very well at Manchester City and lost, the signs were still promising. The way Brighton are performing at home is really impressive.
We saw a bit of a slip up recently against Sheffield United, but they went back to basics against Bournemouth and were worthy winners.
Brighton will go after it, while Chelsea's youngsters will be tired - they had to put a massive shift in at Arsenal to get the win. Brighton are very good at home, so I cannot separate them.
