Chelsea vs Brighton: Seagulls’ hoodoo makes goals market the value angle at Stamford Bridge

Xabi Alonso's first home game in charge of Chelsea arrives with a script that is becoming painfully familiar for Stamford Bridge regulars.

Brighton have won the last four meetings between these two sides across all competitions, and history suggests goals are never far away whenever these two teams meet. 

The Blues opened the season with a five-goal thriller against Fulham, with the front trio of Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers all scoring in a 3-2 win, before following up with a comfortable 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Luton.

Brighton, on the other hand, dismantled Aston Villa in a first-half blitz that produced a 4-0 win, scoring all four goals inside the first 31 minutes of their opener.

Now, both teams have an opportunity to build momentum and come into this game filled with confidence. We look into the value market options ahead of Sunday's game, along with the latest odds.

Chelsea vs Brighton: Both teams are in good scoring mood

This looks like the standout stat of the lot, with the last seven head-to-head meetings between Chelsea and Brighton all producing over 2.5 goals. Both teams have also shown that they have plenty of attacking power in their respective opening games.

Chelsea's win at Fulham came despite conceding the majority of possession, while Brighton put four goals past Aston Villa inside the first 31 minutes of their opener.

With two of the division's more open attacking sides going at each other, and a firmly established scoring pattern between them, backing the over 2.5 goals option at 4/6 (1.66) looks like considerably better value than the head-to-head record alone would suggest.

Chelsea vs Brighton: Seagulls can upset Blues

Brighton have won four of the last five meetings between these sides, three of them by a three-goal margin, including a 3-0 win at the Amex back in April. 

Given how thoroughly Fabian Hurzeler's side have had Chelsea's number recently, the market's confidence in the hosts looks worth treating with some caution.

With this in mind, backing Brighton to win or draw at 2.05 (21/20) is looking like good value, as the Seagulls will approach this with a mindset that they keep their streak going.