Brighton vs Chelsea injury news as three ruled out and seven doubts

Chelsea are back in action on Saturday when they take on Brighton on Saturday.

The Blues were seconds away from picking up a huge three points against Manchester United over the weekend, but they had to settle for a point after conceding a stoppage time equaliser. Despite that, Chelsea seem to be trending in the right direction under Graham Potter, bouncing back in the Champions League during the week.

Chelsea defeated RB Salzburg 2-1 away from home to wrap up top spot in their group with a game to spare, holding head-to-head advantage over AC Milan. In the Premier League, the Blues are in fifth place, but they are two points behind Tottenham in third and goal difference behind Newcastle in fourth with a game in hand over both.

On Saturday, Potter goes up against his former side, returning to the Amex Stadium just weeks after leaving the South coast club, the Seagulls are enjoying a fine season, currently in ninth place.

Ahead of that one, Mateo Kovacic is a doubt, still struggling with a knee injury he has been playing with for weeks. Meanwhile, Kalidou Koulibaly has a knee concern, despite making the squad over the weekend.

“He just felt his knee at the back end of the game against Brentford. It’s not too bad, but it’s too soon for him to play in this game,” Potter said of the defender, who did not feature in the squad for the Salzburg clash. “We lost Koulibaly, so we can’t play him, and then we’ve got a couple of players returning who recovered against Brentford. Thiago couldn’t play in the week.

“So it’s a case of managing the load and managing the games and picking a team that can be competitive and hopefully win the game.” Elsewhere, NGolo Kante, Reece James and Wesley Fofana all remain out.

As for Brighton, Joel Veltman and Adam Lallana are both battling time to return for this one, while Kaoru Mitoma is also a doubt. Levi Colwill and Jan Paul van Hecke are also doubts for this one.