Team news and stats ahead of Brighton vs Chelsea on the opening weekend of the Premier League on Monday Night Football (kick-off 8.15pm).
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Team news
Adam Lallana, Joel Veltman and Ben White could make Premier League debuts for Brighton on Monday Night Football. Lallana and Veltman were signed from Liverpool and Ajax respectively during the summer, while centre-back White is back on the south coast following a successful loan spell with Leeds.
Christian Walton (ankle) and Florin Andone (knee) are the only players unavailable to Graham Potter.
Hakim Ziyech will miss out for Chelsea due to a knee injury, Ben Chilwell is not ready to feature after a heel concern, while the Amex Stadium clash should come too soon for Thiago Silva.
Cesar Azpilicueta and Christian Pulisic are in contention, however, having shaken off injuries picked up at the tail-end of last term.
How to follow
Brighton vs Chelsea will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League from 8pm on Monday; kick-off at 8.15pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
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- 146 Premier League games live on Sky Sports
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Watch the Premier League live on Sky Sports
One hundred and forty-six Premier League games will be shown live on Sky Sports in the 2020/21 season, with an additional six matches added in September.
The Premier League has further increased the number of televised games this season from 200 to 231, with over half of the extra fixtures set to be shown live on Sky Sports.
Overall, Sky Sports will be showing 146 Premier League matches live throughout the 2020/21 season, continuing to bring you all the latest twists, turns and shocks at the home of the Premier League.
There will also be two additional midweek programmes - one will be played across the weeks commencing January 11 and 18 and the second will be in the week commencing May 10. All of these games will be broadcast live.
You can also follow the action with our dedicated live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch free match highlights from every game shortly after full time on our digital platforms and YouTube channel.
Opta stats
- Brighton have failed to win any of their six Premier League encounters with Chelsea, losing five times and scoring just two goals in the process (D1).
- Chelsea have never lost against Brighton in league competition, winning nine and drawing one. The Blues have faced Brighton more times without ever losing than they have against any other side in their league history.
- Chelsea have lost two of their last three season openers in the Premier League (W1), this after going 18 consecutive campaigns without defeat on the opening matchday between 1999-00 and 2016-17.
- This is the third time Chelsea are starting a Premier League campaign on a Monday, with the Blues going on to win the title on the previous two occasions (2014-15 and 2016-17).
- Brighton have won just three of their 18 Premier League matches in 2020 (D9 L6), the fewest of any current side.
- Chelsea shipped 54 Premier League goals last season, their most in a season since 1996-97 (55) and their tally of just nine clean sheets was their joint-lowest ever in a Premier League campaign, along with 1996-97 and 2015-16.