Full Time
Chelsea edged a seven-goal thriller at home, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 4-3 in a game that had pretty much everything except a moment to catch your breath. Both sides traded blows throughout, and Brighton's late fightback nearly forced a leveller before Chelsea saw it through. It's the kind of scoreline both sets of defenders will want to forget in a hurry. Chelsea make it back-to-back wins to start the season, while Brighton's perfect start comes to an end after a spirited defeat.
Pre-match Talking Points
Match talking points will appear here before kick-off.
Team Talking Points
-
1Chelsea limped into the international break after a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, settled by an Enzo Le Fée penalty in the first half. It dropped them to fifth, out of the Champions League places, and it was their fourth league defeat in ten games.
-
2Xabi Alonso – appointed in the summer on a four-year deal to revive things – didn't sugar-coat it, saying Chelsea 'didn't deserve more than probably one point' and lacked patience and quality in the final third. The honesty is refreshing; the stats are less so.
-
3Here's the worrying number: across games against Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Sunderland, Chelsea scored just one goal from open play. For a squad that cost what this one did, that's a lot of very expensive passing sideways.
-
4They've also been beaten 3-0 by Brentford this season, back in October. Chelsea fans would rather you didn't bring that one up, so maybe save it for when you want to change the subject quickly.
-
5There's still plenty of time – they're only two points off the top four, six behind second-placed Brighton. And they're not shy about January: reports this week say Chelsea are among the clubs monitoring Arsenal's unhappy midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
One open-play goal in four games isn't what anyone had in mind when Xabi Alonso walked through the door – the break's come at a decent time for him.
🚫
Avoid saying
"Just sack the manager" – it's Chelsea, so it's the reflex joke, but Alonso's only been in the job since the summer – ten games is not a fair trial. Say it and you'll sound like you think it's still 2012.
-
1Brighton are second in the Premier League going into the international break, with 22 points from 10 games. They've also got the best goal difference in the division at +19 – better even than leaders Arsenal's +10. Drop that stat and you'll sound like you've been reading the small print.
-
2Last weekend they beat Brentford 2-0 at the Amex. Diego Gómez opened the scoring with a long-range screamer on his weaker foot, and Pascal Gross – back at the club and still pinging them in – added a penalty just before half-time.
-
3The defence is the quiet story. That was their seventh clean sheet of the season and their fourth in five home league games. For a team usually praised for pretty football, they've become surprisingly hard to score against.
-
4Fabian Hurzeler, still one of the youngest managers in the league, is having the best spell of his time at the club. Earlier in the season Brighton also thrashed newly promoted Coventry 5-0 – a result that set the tone for the whole autumn.
-
5Next up is a trip to Hull on Sunday 22 November, then the fixtures get tougher. Brighton fans are cautiously excited – being five points behind Arsenal in second is uncharted territory, so let them enjoy it without saying the words 'title race' too loudly.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
Best goal difference in the league and seven clean sheets already – Brighton aren't just the pretty-football side any more, they're properly hard to beat.
🚫
Avoid saying
"Brighton always sell their best players, they'll fall away" – yes, they sell well, and yet here they are second in the table. It's the business model working, not a weakness, and Brighton fans are very tired of explaining that.