⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[pawel7777]

Brighton did it again. They beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup game on Saturday and today they did even better by defeating them 3-0.
It's pretty obvious that there's something wrong going on with Chelsea. Out of their last 10 games (all competitions) they won only 3 times, drew twice, and lost 5 times.
They're still pretty high in the league table, currently at 4th place, but they might drop tomorrow and got overtaken by either Man City or Newcastle, or even Bournemouth who are playing weak Southampton.
Earlier in the season it looked like they could be a serious contender for winning the league, but those hopes are gone now. They'll be lucky if they finish in the top 4.

[uchegod-21]

5 defense, which is clearly a low block play, though I'm still surprise on how Chelsea still operate through the wings well. Brilliant goal from mitoma, but that was a massive defensive blunder from Chalobah. Mitoma made a brilliant touch after receiving the ball from the goalkeeper, which I expected the main defender at that point to do a good job, but unfortunately, he failed. And as for the second goal, it was literally another confused moment in the Chelsea defense. The 5 man defense was also to operate a wing back type of play, which left Minteh in the right position to score the second goal. Still on the second half. And there is still enough time for more goals to come in from either sides. From the first half stat, Chelsea had more possession of the ball, but Brighton seem to be interested in scoring and defending.

Chelsea are lack of consistency, imagine Brighton are able to beat Chelsea 3-0 without single equalize that’s was the very disappointing result from them. Because with way Chelsea started the season with very nice performances nobody expecting that there performance turn into the poorly where by even the league’s is not yet the middle.

And the most surprised thing is that Chelsea are make a strong performing by gathering higher possession of the ball without single goals, to be honest Brighton played admirably game against Chelsea that surprised a lot of people’s after they bring out a positive results.

Let me say again that I believed the former Chelsea coach - Pochettino to bring lasting success than the present coach. It was unfortunate that Todd had to dismiss him when his formula started yielding result.
It seems that Chelsea will have to face another bad season like Manchester United if they continue this way. I don't even know who exactly to give the blame to. If Brighton can beat Chelsea 3 goals to nil, it means like 10 other EPL teams can also do so. Who then will Chelsea be winning as this race continues. It seems that many clubs aren't actually ready for this season, these include;
Manchester United,
Chelsea,
Tottenham,
and even Manchester city.

[Pokapoka124]

Man City is in a tough spot right now. They've just lost a Champions League play-off 1st leg game to Real at home (2-3) being only a few minutes away from a victory. It will be hard to come back from that in the rematch at Santiago Bernabeu.
Their next few games are far from the easiest:
Newcastle (home)
Real (away)
Liverpool (home)
Tottenham (away) - this one might not seem like a challenge but Man City lost the last 2 direct clashes, the last one was an embarrassing 0-4 loss at home.

It will be a real test for the Citizens.

The poor balance in their midfield in that match has destroyed the victory that is in sight, the last two goals created by Madrid as well as make their winning goal in the match actually started from a mistake made by Manchester City, I think with an aggregate of 2-3 of course they still have a chance in the second leg to turn things around later,  but on the condition that their must to go all out at the Santiago Bernabeu without being allowed to make any more mistakes, if we talk about their chances in the EPL, of course it is difficult for them to rise especially like you say if they will have a big challenge from a strong teams in the league in the next few weeks, but regardless,  of course, we can't assume too quickly if they will lose full points in all those matches.

It will be hard for Manchester City to come back from this one. It has never been easy to get a win at the Santiago Bernabeu, it will take a miracle for Manchester City make a comeback knowing how much champions league history Real Madrid has. Manchester City next four fixtures are definitely not an easy one and they will need to step up and be at their top level to get at least two wins in the next four.

[shinratensei_]

Chelsea 0 - 3 Brighton.

This likes what i have said in my previous comment yesterday. Chelsea looked so garbage, and not worthy to bet on them. It comes true now.

Even if they could draw against Brighton, and i consider it as a luck for them. They're now regressing so hard even by only missing Jackson. This is why i don't really like Championship manager.

Maresca has doubled down his team's mentality instead of cooking it. I'm doubting their chance to secure UCL spot now. They looked so shaky in all of the lines, even Palmer is non existent in this fucking game.

[TelolettOm]

Chelsea 0 - 3 Brighton.

This likes what i have said in my previous comment yesterday. Chelsea looked so garbage, and not worthy to bet on them. It comes true now.

Even if they could draw against Brighton, and i consider it as a luck for them. They're now regressing so hard even by only missing Jackson. This is why i don't really like Championship manager.

Maresca has doubled down his team's mentality instead of cooking it. I'm doubting their chance to secure UCL spot now. They looked so shaky in all of the lines, even Palmer is non existent in this fucking game.

It was a very bad performance for Chelsea players. They were conceded 3 goals, they couldn't score a single goal. I can agree that Chelsea players look like a garbage, they can't deal with Brighton players although they have just defeated with big scores in the previous match. Nottm Forest destroyed them with 7 goals in the previous match, Chelsea ideally could take advantage of this because Brighton players may drop their mentality. Surprisingly, Brighton showed that they have a better mentality in today's match.

Chelsea needs a new striker because they can't rely on Jackson only. Sometimes Jackson can get injured, he also may not perform well in each match. Nkunku doesn't deserve to be a striker of Chelsea squad, his performance is getting declining every season. Meanwhile some other strikers deserve to put on transfer list (Deivid Washington, David Fofana). I think Maresca needs to sell these players in the next transfer windows.

[blue Snow]

If you finally settled for Chelsea straight win, you will be regretting that decision by now. Brighton humiliated Chelsea again. Going for the 3+ goals you predicted earlier would have been better. Brighton won Chelsea in Fa cup, and Chelsea wasn't impressive during that match. Today again they were very poor against Brighton. I don't know what's wrong with Chelsea they have been having poor results and even in the transfer window they didn't add to the team. Now they will continue with this their miserable squad for the rest of the season. Brighton didn't give them any chance to cause them problems. Enzo Maresca has to do his magic and get the team back to winning ways.

This is insane. Chelsea has been humiliated twice in a short time. Chelsea has 70% ball possession and 717 passing in attempts which are 90% accurate. While Brighton, not so much in possession but has 13 on-shoot where 40% accurate. I think Enzo Maresca must be fixed immediately in the squad. There is no attacks can be converted into goals. The midfielders can't build an offense. There is many inefficient passing that makes some players seem useless. This is different from Brighton players, even don't have much touch the ball, but a player like Mitona is highly effective in passing and stabbing the penalty box.

I think its position in the Champions League zone will shift soon by Manchester City.

[junder]

It will be hard for Manchester City to come back from this one. It has never been easy to get a win at the Santiago Bernabeu, it will take a miracle for Manchester City make a comeback knowing how much champions league history Real Madrid has. Manchester City next four fixtures are definitely not an easy one and they will need to step up and be at their top level to get at least two wins in the next four.

In UCL or in EPl currently Manchester City in my opinion is in a state of poor performance, with their match yesterday against Real Madrid I saw Vini was completely closed so that he could not pass through their defense, this was good, but unfortunately they made mistakes many times and the second and third goals that Real Madrid scored could be said to be due to the negligence and carelessness of Manchester City players.

Today Manchester City will compete against Newcastle, I doubt they will be able to beat Newcastle, even if they lose, Newcastle will be able to shift their ranking.

[mamesso]

~Snip~

Yes it does. Leicester City winning the Premier League was one of the greatest underdog stories in football history. While Nottingham Forest may be in good from this season, they have shown moments of weakness too. I don't think that they can be able to win the premier League but if they maintain momentum, they can be able to finish in a comfortable position that will guarantee them an European competition next season.

Nottingham success in reaching the top four this season cannot be compared to Leicester City success in winning the EPL championship in the 2015/16 season, because the situations experienced by the two teams are very different. At that time, Leicester managed to top the standings, while Nottingham was still unable to compete with Arsenal and Liverpool.
I'm also not sure they can finish in the top four as Man City and Newcastle are trying to build momentum to get back into the UCL Zone, besides Chelsea are also worth considering even though they just suffered an embarrassing defeat to Brighton.

[Hewlet]

The first fixture in the match week 25 of the English Premier League kicks off in less than 2 hours from now with Brighton playing host to Chelsea. I'm struggling to come up with a good prediction for this game because of Brighton's shocking results against some of the supposed top teams this season and the fact that Chelsea have been inconsistent. I want to settle for the option of the game to produce 3+ goals however, I also think it might be very difficult to play our since both clubs haven't been that prolific in their recent games. A straight win for Chelsea will be a big risk but at the moment, I think that's the best option for me to go for.

If you finally settled for Chelsea straight win, you will be regretting that decision by now. Brighton humiliated Chelsea again. Going for the 3+ goals you predicted earlier would have been better. Brighton won Chelsea in Fa cup, and Chelsea wasn't impressive during that match. Today again they were very poor against Brighton. I don't know what's wrong with Chelsea they have been having poor results and even in the transfer window they didn't add to the team. Now they will continue with this their miserable squad for the rest of the season. Brighton didn't give them any chance to cause them problems. Enzo Maresca has to do his magic and get the team back to winning ways.

do they need to add more players to a squad that already has a lot of young and hungry attackers that are actually competing to get a spot in the first team and yet don't know how to show up when it really matters? for a very long time, Chelsea played a complete game without having a single shot on target against a team that knocked them out of the FA cup? what other level of humiliation is worse than that? clearly they don't belong to the top four and where just lucky to have found themselves ticking some boxes that brought them close to the top of the table at the early phase of the season.

Enzo maresca should have known by now that he is doing really bad and no team if afraid of playing against Chelsea anymore. the Brighton fans where even writing and chanting that they want to be playing Chelsea week after week, that shows how weak of a team the Chelsea team has gotten themselves to. one good thing about this season is that there is no such thing as a weak team that you can just go against and win them too easily, every team comes with it own threat and if you don't stand strong enough against them, you certainly risk being taken down.

[Spaceman1000$]

Chelsea 0 - 3 Brighton.

This likes what i have said in my previous comment yesterday. Chelsea looked so garbage, and not worthy to bet on them. It comes true now.

Even if they could draw against Brighton, and i consider it as a luck for them. They're now regressing so hard even by only missing Jackson. This is why i don't really like Championship manager.

Maresca has doubled down his team's mentality instead of cooking it. I'm doubting their chance to secure UCL spot now. They looked so shaky in all of the lines, even Palmer is non existent in this fucking game.

I already knew that it was going to be a dead end for Chelsea, the truth is that Brighton where just perfect with their tactics against Chelsea, same thing happened during their FA Cup game, Brighton at the moment are just perfect in dismantling Chelsea formation, with the way Chelsea played last night, i don't think even Jackson would have helped save the day. Chelsea have not been too bad, although they've had inconsistent issues with their winning streak lately which is why I feel Enzo Maresca needs to improve on his tactics, most of the players he has in his team, has that ability to make Chelsea unstoppable, he just isn't getting it right with what he is doing.

[blue Snow]

There is a lack of confidence when away at King Power stadium because Arteta knows very well how Ruud van Nistelrooy managed the squad, besides that, Arsenal facing a storm of injuries, Kai Havertz got a hamstring injury and can't be played until the end of the season. It's been a nightmare because they are out of stock a pure attacker. Several main players like Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli are not playable yet due to fitness. So, I think Arsenal is in big trouble, even have a statistical chance of winning, but I think hard to win with at least 1 different goal. will most likely be a draw that can happen.

[AirtelBuzz]

The first fixture in the match week 25 of the English Premier League kicks off in less than 2 hours from now with Brighton playing host to Chelsea. I'm struggling to come up with a good prediction for this game because of Brighton's shocking results against some of the supposed top teams this season and the fact that Chelsea have been inconsistent. I want to settle for the option of the game to produce 3+ goals however, I also think it might be very difficult to play our since both clubs haven't been that prolific in their recent games. A straight win for Chelsea will be a big risk but at the moment, I think that's the best option for me to go for.

If you finally settled for Chelsea straight win, you will be regretting that decision by now. Brighton humiliated Chelsea again. Going for the 3+ goals you predicted earlier would have been better. Brighton won Chelsea in Fa cup, and Chelsea wasn't impressive during that match. Today again they were very poor against Brighton. I don't know what's wrong with Chelsea they have been having poor results and even in the transfer window they didn't add to the team. Now they will continue with this their miserable squad for the rest of the season. Brighton didn't give them any chance to cause them problems. Enzo Maresca has to do his magic and get the team back to winning ways.

Chelsea had lost to Brighton in the FA Cup in their previous match, so we thought that might not happen again but they lost this match too.It was completely amazing. We saw a single dominance from Brighton in these two matches, they were playing very amazing against the Chelsea team at present. If you do not know what the problem of Chelsea team is, maybe their performance is the problem because the performance of their team players is not yet perfect.

In the two matches Chelsea have lost recently, i.e the two matches they lost to Brighton, they have also been successful in possession and passing attempts. It has already become clear that they were behind in attack in these two matches.

[AprilioMP]

Three goals that will be created in this match have a great opportunity to happen and to guess who will win, it's a difficult choice for me to choose one of them. that Brighton acts as Home.
Regarding consistent, both of them are the same that their consistent is not good.
Never mind, the choice of over in this fight can be relied upon.

It might not sound so nice if Brighton manages to win this match against Chelsea. Brighton has done this for sometimes, I think it is the time of Chelsea to take a revenge. I am expecting Chelsea to win this match, but it will surely be difficult for them but Chelsea's worse result should be a draw.

Three goals were created and I was happy with the prediction of the goals I made even though the results were not like that I wanted.
Winning again over Chelsea will occur after they managed to make it in the FA Cup. This result should not have happened, but the courage of Brighton players in releasing shots must be recognized.
When Brighton was 2 goals ahead, I thought Chelsea could make a comeback in the second half, but what I thought was that Chelsea returned their goal back.

Brighton has been a surprising team as usual but they lack consistency but however has good records against big teams. It is still goaless although yet first half.

Yes Brighton became a team destroying the top team strategy.

[mammusu]

Chelsea 0 - 3 Brighton.

This likes what i have said in my previous comment yesterday. Chelsea looked so garbage, and not worthy to bet on them. It comes true now.

Even if they could draw against Brighton, and i consider it as a luck for them. They're now regressing so hard even by only missing Jackson. This is why i don't really like Championship manager.

Maresca has doubled down his team's mentality instead of cooking it. I'm doubting their chance to secure UCL spot now. They looked so shaky in all of the lines, even Palmer is non existent in this fucking game.

With the support of a better squad with the quality young players they have, of course it was surprising for us to see them lose without being able to reduce the score until the end of the game, looking at their stalemate in that match, I started to think that Maresca seemed to be incapable of building a sharp attacking line even though they had a lot of attackers in their squad, this season Chelsea rely too much on Palmer and Jackson in scoring goals, so when Palmer and Jackson are unable to show good performance or are injured precisely they often loss points in crucial matches, the defeat from Brighton makes it even more difficult for them to maintain the top 4 position in the current Premier League standings.

[Velvet78]

Chelsea 0 - 3 Brighton.

This likes what i have said in my previous comment yesterday. Chelsea looked so garbage, and not worthy to bet on them. It comes true now.

Even if they could draw against Brighton, and i consider it as a luck for them. They're now regressing so hard even by only missing Jackson. This is why i don't really like Championship manager.

Maresca has doubled down his team's mentality instead of cooking it. I'm doubting their chance to secure UCL spot now. They looked so shaky in all of the lines, even Palmer is non existent in this fucking game.

I didn't like anything about Chelsea football last night.    I had bigger hopes from them but they messed up even harder this time.

I don't think Jackson's absence changes anything for them. He was already a horrible player. Yeah maybe he played decently for some time before but recently he is back to that bad look again.

Chelsea are at least lucky about one thing that there is a game between Manchester City and Newcastle. A draw would help Chelsea maintain the 4th spot.

[joniboini]

I didn't watch Chelsea vs Brighton but I'm surprised to see Chelsea failed to register a single shot on target with 70% possession. Sancho was trending again too.

Anyway, 9 points from the last 9 games in the EPL is certainly a bad thing. Their form is terrible and Maresca needs to find out how to break this trend quickly. I understand it's probably harder to do so because his players are so young. Having some older players with lots of experience will probably help at times like this. CMIIW.

[Pandorak]

In UCL or in EPl currently Manchester City in my opinion is in a state of poor performance, with their match yesterday against Real Madrid I saw Vini was completely closed so that he could not pass through their defense, this was good, but unfortunately they made mistakes many times and the second and third goals that Real Madrid scored could be said to be due to the negligence and carelessness of Manchester City players.

Today Manchester City will compete against Newcastle, I doubt they will be able to beat Newcastle, even if they lose, Newcastle will be able to shift their ranking.

If we look at the match a few days ago against Real Madrid in UCL, it was a painful defeat for Pep Guardiola men, they lost with a thin score. Although Manchester City played quite badly in UCL, their performance in EPL is better, they are trying hard to get 5th place in the current standings.

The next match against Newcastle, both teams both get 41 points, Manchester City must focus more on this match to get a victory, their potential to penetrate the top 4 is still open, it is a pity if they have to lose against Newcastle in this match.

[aylabadia05]

The 5-4-1 formation makes Brighton focus on defense and while I am typing this post, Brighton widens the goal gap to two goals.
The possibility for Chelsea to take revenge will not be realized as expected.

They want to try to maintain the midfield and defense because Brighton knows that facing Chelsea will not be possible if they ignore the defense they have and currently it seems that the scheme that is being carried out is working very well for them.

In the last three matches including yesterday's match, Fabian Hurzeler has used 3 different formations. Twice against Chelsea, the formation is different between the FA Cup and the one used when beating Chelsea yesterday 3-0.
In yesterday's match, the formation used was 5-4-1 which shows that Fabian Hurzeler is aware that Chelsea will try to avenge the defeat in the FA Cup.

Although in terms of dominance Chelsea is clearly superior because they managed to control half the field but for the quality of attacks and utilization of momentum it is clear that Brighton is far superior at this time.

Brighton's focus is only to defend well and take advantage of counter-attack opportunities when gaps to take shots will be made and it worked with the 3 goals they scored.

[Pandu Geddon]

I didn't watch Chelsea vs Brighton but I'm surprised to see Chelsea failed to register a single shot on target with 70% possession. Sancho was trending again too.

Anyway, 9 points from the last 9 games in the EPL is certainly a bad thing. Their form is terrible and Maresca needs to find out how to break this trend quickly. I understand it's probably harder to do so because his players are so young. Having some older players with lots of experience will probably help at times like this. CMIIW.

Chelsea's game is only on ball possession, but when they start to attack, they lose the ball or have poor finishing. Not only in that match, they performed badly with very few accurate shots. In the previous match against Brighton, also in the FA Cup, the match tended to be better, but Chelsea could only make one shot on target. It also ended with Chelsea's defeat. Chelsea's performance is still unstable. They are sometimes good when facing a team that is also strong, even though they have to draw. Butt sometimes, they play badly when facing a team that is even weaker than them.

[tusandii]

Leicester City - Arsenal
Aston Villa - Ipswich
Manchester City - Newcastle

There are 3 matches that I will bet on today, hopefully the teams I bet on will not disappoint, I bet on Arsenal and Aston Villa's victory, of course they are more favored to win because their opponents are not as strong as them, but for the match between Man City - Newcastle I do not choose between the two because in my opinion this match is quite difficult to predict, they have the same points and of course the victory of one of them will determine their position and make the difference in points I bet on BTTS and the odds are quite convincing.