5 Things Learned: Brighton and Hove Albion 1-3 Chelsea | Premier League

Chelsea kicked off their 2020/21 Premier League campaign with a 3-1 win away to Graham Potter’s Brighton and Hove Albion.

Frank Lampard’s men started nervously but went into half-time a goal up as new signing Timo Werner burst in behind the Brighton defence to earn Chelsea a penalty, after being fouled by keeper Mathew Ryan.

Jorginho, cool as ever, successfully converted from twelve yards. Brighton equalised nine minutes into the second-half from Leandro Trossard.

Jorginho scoring Chelsea’s first goal of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign.

However, just over a minute after conceding, Chelsea regained the lead from a wonder strike by Reece James. Kurt Zouma sealed all three points after his deflected volley found its way into the Brighton net.

Here’s our five things that we learned from Chelsea’s win:

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1. An impressive display from the two centre-backs

Chelsea’s issue last season was the defence. Despite conceding, Lampard should be impressed by the performances from Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen. There were signs of vulnerability at the back, but the pair were assured throughout the majority of the 90 minutes. To top it all off, Zouma chipped in with a goal in what was a solid showing from the Frenchman. Ultimately one of them may have to be dropped as soon as Thiago Silva is match fit.

2. Timo Werner has arrived

Although this may be a little farfetched considering the German failed to score, but Timo Werner put in a reasonably stable performance on his first Premier League start. Werner pounced on the mistake made by Brighton to help earn his side a penalty. As well as that, when getting in behind the Albion backline, Timo caused a lot of problems and should therefore be pleased with his debut.

3. Ross Barkley and the positive impact made by the Englishman

With Chelsea 2-1 up, the game was up in the air. Graham Potter’s side was capable of grabbing another goal during the game. However, the introduction of Ross Barkley helped changed the proceedings of the match. Immediately after coming on, the Blues were a lot more sharper. Barkley was arguably at the heart of the majority of Chelsea’s attacks in what was an impressive substitution made by Lampard.

4. A man of the match display from Reece James

After breaking into the Chelsea team last season, this year will be a big campaign for Reece James. The young fullback put in a great shift throughout the game. To top it all off, James scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea as well as assisting the third goal from Kurt Zouma. This performance will almost certainly give James a lot of confidence going into Chelsea’s game with Liverpool.

Reece James celebrating after his wonder strike put Chelsea 2-1 up. 

5. The Blues desperately need Ben Chilwell back from injury

Unfortunately for Lampard, it’ll be a couple of weeks before we see Ben Chilwell play his first Chelsea game. Signing from Leicester, it’s a no brainer that Chilwell will instantly slot in at left-back. Alonso’s performance showed that the Blues desperately need Chilwell back as soon as possible. Marcos Alonso had a torrid time defending against Tariq Lamptey. He couldn’t handle Lamptey’s pace and, should the Spaniard start against Liverpool, will unquestionably struggle against Liverpool’s front three.

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Next up for Frank Lampard’s side is Liverpool at home this Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

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