Chelsea vs Brighton team news / Strike duo return for Albion while Hudson-Odoi stakes claim

Brighton and Hove Albion will welcome back their two senior strikers as they travel to Chelsea tomorrow.
Glenn Murray has recovered from an ankle injury (getty)Glenn Murray has recovered from an ankle injury (getty)
Glenn Murray has recovered from an ankle injury (getty)

Glenn Murray and Neal Maupay both missed Albion’s 3-1 home loss to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

Murray, who celebrated in 36th birthday this week, was an unused sub in the last league match at Newcastle due to an ankle problem.

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Maupay, who has two Premier League goals to his name following his £16m summer arrival from Brentford, is expected to recover from a cut to the knee.

“Maupay is fine,” said head coach Graham Potter, “We have protected Glenn (Murray) but he trained, he’s fine.”

There was bad news however for defender Shane Duffy. The Ireland international injured his calf in midweek against Villa and faces a spell on the sidelines.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Solly March could return. Leandro Trossard (groin) Bernardo (knee) are also out but Dale Stephens, who has been ill, is available.

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Potter said, “We sent Shane Duffy for a scan and it looks like weeks, rather days for him. We have got Ali back, maybe for the weekend and Solly maybe, we have got another training session of course. If not for the weekend then maybe Tottenham.

“Trossard is making really good progress but the game (Chelsea) will be too soon for him. We have had a period where we lost him, Balogun and Ali from internationals. They came back injured, then a couple of knocks and all of a sudden it can mount up.”

Chelsea manager Lampard fielded numerous academy players during the midweek Carabao Cup win over Grimsby.

Callum Hudson-Odoi marked his return from injury with a goal in that 7-1 success, while defender Reece James was on target on his Blues debut.

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The pair will be in contention to feature against the Seagulls.

“They’re in the squad, they performed the other day,” said Lampard. “They still have improvement, they are young players. Now they’re back fit, they are pushing.”

Lampard expects striker Olivier Giroud to be available following illness and also thinks Andreas Christensen will be fit after he was injured against Liverpool. However, Antonio Rudiger, Emerson Palmieri and Ruben Loftus-Cheek remain sidelined.