Chelsea found life very difficult up against Brighton in the FA Cup at the weekend, which saw them dumped out of the competition at the fourth round stage.
A number of individual displays left very little to be desired. Craig Burley described Christopher Nkunku as a ‘waste of money’ after he failed to take his chance in a rare start for the club.
Only Moises Caicedo impressed in our player ratings from the game, however the Blues do not have to wait long to put things right against the same opponents.
Chelsea are making the trip back to the Amex on Friday night in the Premier League, with them defending their place in the top four from the likes of Manchester City and Newcastle United.
Enzo Maresca needs to make changes, and The Chelsea Chronicle have listed three different things the manager must do to get revenge on their FA Cup conquerors.
Three things Enzo Maresca must do to help Chelsea get revenge on Brighton
Drop Malo Gusto
In a rare occasion where both full-backs were given licence to attack, it was a very disappointing outing for Malo Gusto.
The Frenchman was deputising for Reece James, who was a planned omission according to Maresca, however struggled to make the most of a number of crossing opportunities.
He didn’t cope any better defensively either. Kaoru Mitoma firmly came out on top in that battle, with him scoring the winning goal. Even Tariq Lamptey had joy up against Gusto.
Hopefully James will be fit to feature, however if not the boss should look to Josh Acheampong to make his third Premier League start.
Persist with Pedro Neto
In what was an overall very flat attacking performance, one player who continued to push hard for an opening was Pedro Neto.
The Portugal international looked electric in stages up against former Blue Lamptey, and the right wing was a far stronger avenue of attack than the opposite side.
Goals have not been free-flowing from anyone outside of Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson across the whole campaign, and Neto will know that he needs to provide more regularly in that department.
However, he was their best bet of creating chances in the FA Cup tie, and has the chance to do the same on Friday night.
Recall Levi Colwill
Levi Colwill was given a well-earned rest in the FA Cup on Friday night, however his absence at the back was felt hard as Chelsea struggled particularly in playing out.
The England international’s mistake in his last game against West Ham was punished, although this does not take away from the great individual campaign he is having.
Being naturally left-footed would stop someone else having to play on their weaker side on Friday too. Last time out it was Trevoh Chalobah struggling with that task.
He may be in for a similar reception to the likes of Marc Cucurella and Caicedo being a former Seagull, however Chelsea need a composed Colwill back in their starting side.
