{"id":2502,"date":"2026-08-28T18:49:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/footballars.xyz\/?p=2502"},"modified":"2026-08-28T18:49:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:49:43","slug":"predicted-chelsea-xi-to-face-brighton-moises-caicedo-decision-and-four-xabi-alonso-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/?p=2502","title":{"rendered":"Predicted Chelsea XI to face Brighton: Moises Caicedo decision and four Xabi Alonso changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-382979\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\"> <a class=\"fw\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=thechelseachronicle.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s been a quick turnaround for Xabi Alonso\u2019s Chelsea side as they take on Brighton on Sunday, their third game in six days. The Blues have won both of their first two games.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A 3-2 win at Fulham was followed by a return to <a href=\"http:\/\/thechelseachronicle\/club\/stadium\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Stamford Bridge<\/a> on Thursday night, resulting in a 2-0 win for the Blues. Now, <a href=\"http:\/\/thechelseachronicle.com\/club\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Chelsea<\/a> face their toughest test of the season so far, a home clash against Brighton.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"5a9c74ee-9dfb-4c17-80a3-f12c2bcadb5e\" data-story-name=\"Talk Chelsea\" data-comment-id=\"18718a4c-d52d-4e54-8ca7-7808e60454ec\" data-story-slug=\"talk-chelsea\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<p><h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">Who gets your MOTM vote in Chelsea\u2019s win over Luton?\ud83e\udd14<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/player-ratings-6-819x1024.png\" alt=\"Chelsea player ratings vs Luton\" class=\"wp-image-382881\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/player-ratings-6-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/player-ratings-6-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/player-ratings-6-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/player-ratings-6-912x1140.png 912w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/player-ratings-6-600x750.png 600w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/player-ratings-6.png 1080w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Danny Welbeck of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team\u2019s first goal during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Chelsea and Luton Town at Stamford Bridge on August 27, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images)\">Photo by Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Robert Sanchez, Levi Colwill, Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro could all face their old side on Sunday, with Brighton in action against Norwegian side Tromso in the week. Chelsea will be expected to secure a win.<\/p>\n<p>Enzo Fernandez is likely to remain absent on Sunday, having missed the Luton clash. Reports in his home country claim <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/match-coverage\/the-damning-reason-enzo-fernandez-was-missing-from-chelseas-win-over-luton-town\/\">Fernandez asked not to be included<\/a>, but the chances are, he will be missing on Sunday too.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chelsea-team-news-going-into-brighton-clash\">Chelsea team news going into Brighton clash<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking in Friday\u2019s press conference, <a href=\"http:\/\/thechelseachronicle.com\/club\/manager\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Xabi Alonso<\/a> confirmed that Cole Palmer and Reece James have come through the first two games unscathed. He believes they should be good to go against Brighton.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290596420-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Reece James of Chelsea speaks to team mate Moises Caicedo\" class=\"wp-image-381300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290596420-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290596420-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290596420-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290596420-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290596420-1140x760.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2290596420-750x500.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: Reece James of Chelsea speaks to team mate Moises Caicedo after the pre-season friendly match between Chelsea and Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge on August 15, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Chelsea Football Club\/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)\">Photo by Chelsea Football Club\/Chelsea FC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Levi Colwill was missing from the win over Luton, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/tag\/moises-caicedo\/\">Moises Caicedo<\/a> has missed the opening two matches. Alonso says both players, and Geovany Quenda, will be good to go against Brighton.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Caicedo has returned to training today, and while that should make him available on Sunday, it is unclear if he will be fit enough to start. Perhaps he does start, but is taken off early by the manager.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-four-changes-as-xabi-alonso-makes-some-key-decisions\">Four changes as Xabi Alonso makes some key decisions<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/transfer-news\/the-bargain-fee-emi-martinez-will-cost-chelsea-as-chris-sutton-delivers-honest-verdict\/\">Chelsea have not announced the signing of Emi Martinez<\/a> in time for the 2022 World Cup winner to be involved against the Seagulls. The chances are, given that Penders played last, Robert Sanchez will start.<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"5a9c74ee-9dfb-4c17-80a3-f12c2bcadb5e\" data-story-name=\"Talk Chelsea\" data-comment-id=\"e9841278-f976-4f5a-936c-808c30f2da70\" data-story-slug=\"talk-chelsea\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-content\">\n<h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">A GOALKEEPER SIGNS! What are your first thoughts on Chelsea signing Emi Martinez? \ud83e\udd73<\/h3>\n<p class=\"grv-talking-point__subtitle\">Only \u00a37.5m!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/THREE-LINE-breaking-news-1-819x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-382869\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/THREE-LINE-breaking-news-1-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/THREE-LINE-breaking-news-1-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/THREE-LINE-breaking-news-1-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/THREE-LINE-breaking-news-1-912x1140.png 912w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/THREE-LINE-breaking-news-1-600x750.png 600w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/08\/THREE-LINE-breaking-news-1.png 1080w\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>By the time Martinez does sign on, it could be that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/columnist\/chelsea-stance-on-mike-penders-is-bad-news-for-robert-sanchez-with-emi-martinez-set-to-join\/\"> Sanchez is ostracised from the squad<\/a>. Chelsea want to keep Penders\u2019 path into the senior side clear. There are decisions to be made at left-back and in midfield.<\/p>\n<p>If Caicedo is fit, he is likely to start alongside Reece James. If not, it is a clear choice between Romeo Lavia and Valentin Barco \u2013 the latter starring against Luton. At left-back, Pep Chavarria impressed on Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>We believe Alonso will make four changes. In come Sanchez, Caicedo, Colwill and Joao Pedro for Penders, Barco, Estevao and Danny Welbeck. Wesley Fofana is back, but Josh Acheampong should retain his place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chelsea predicted XI v Brighton: Robert Sanchez; Josh Acheampong, Maxence Lacroix, Levi Colwill; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Reece James, Pep Chavarria; Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/match-coverage\/predicted-chelsea-xi-to-face-brighton-moises-caicedo-decision-and-four-xabi-alonso-changes\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>grvLoadAnalytics = () => {(function(d,s,i){var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s);j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=\"+i;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(document,'script','G-E7VRWQHDP6');(function(d,s,i){if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){var e=d.createElement(s);var n=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];e.type=\"text\/javascript\";e.async=true;e.src=\"https:\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js\";n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);}})(document,\"script\",\"G-E7VRWQHDP6\");(function(){let s=document.createElement(\"script\");s.async=true;s.dataset.domain=\"thechelseachronicle.com\/MFj4XQ\";s.src=\"https:\/\/api.publytics.net\/js\/script.manual.ping.min.js\";document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")[0].appendChild(s);})();if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){setTimeout(function(){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','663509325503632');fbq('track','PageView');fbq('track','ViewContent',{content_name:'Predicted Chelsea XI to face Brighton: Moises Caicedo decision and four Xabi Alonso changes',content_category:'Match Coverage',content_ids:[382979,\"moises-caicedo\",\"xabi-alonso\"],content_type:'post',});},3000);}}<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/match-coverage\/predicted-chelsea-xi-to-face-brighton-moises-caicedo-decision-and-four-xabi-alonso-changes\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google It\u2019s been a quick turnaround for Xabi Alonso\u2019s Chelsea&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}