Kalidou Koulibaly will not be available to play for Chelsea when they host Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday in the Premier League, interim manager Frank Lampard has confirmed.
The Senegalese defender suffered an hamstring injury during the Blue’s loss to Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League tie on Wednesday.
“No, he won’t be available for either game ( Vs Brighton and Real Madrid). Hamstring injury . Matters of weeks rather than days.” Lampard said when asked about the condition of the defender.
Chelsea are desperate for points as they are placed 11th on the Premier League log, 17 points behind the top four having played a game more than Manchester United who are currently fourth-placed.
They are also toothless upfront as they have failed to score in four successive matches across all competitions and have 29 goals in 30 games.
Chelsea come into this fixture having won just four of their last 21 games with their last victory coming against Leicester City a month ago.
Brighton on the other hand are experiencing one of the greatest seasons of their lives as they sit seventh on the table with 46 points in 28 games. The Seagulls have lost only four of their last 18 matches
Before last weekend’s controversial loss at Tottenham, the Robert De Zerbi’s side were on a seven-game unbeaten away run and had just a single loss in 11 top-flight games.
The last time these two sides met, Brighton defeated the Blues 4-1 at the Amex Stadium to hand their former manager, Garry Potter his first loss as Chelsea manager.
Furthermore, the last two games played at Stamford Bridge between the Blues and Seagulls have ended into stalemate. So Lampard faces an uphill task to help Chelsea salvage something positive from this game.
Team News
Aside from Koulibaly, Chelsea have no other major injury concern ahead of the game.
But for Brighton, they will be without Levi Colwill who is ineligible to face his parent club while Adam Lallana, Jeremy Sarmiento and Jakub Moder are out with injuries.
Predicted lineups
Chelsea: Kepa, Fofana, Silva, Chalobah,James, Enzo, Kovacic, Chilwell, Sterling, Felix, Kai
Brighton: Stelle, Veltman, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan, Caicedo, Gross, March, Mac Allister, Mitoma, Ferguson
