Brighton v Chelsea FA Cup Tips: Blues backed to edge entertaining encounter

• Brighton reeling from Forest thrashing

• Chelsea re-finding form

• Blues boast impressive h2h record

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League One outfit Leyton Orient host Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, and the bad news for the underdogs is that the champions of England have scored at least three goals in each of their last five FA Cup ties against non-Premier League teams.

The Betfair Sportsbook have super-boosted Man City's price to score at least three goals on Saturday from 8/151.53 to 1/12.00. To take advantage just click on the odds in the below bet banner to go directly to the pre-loaded betslip.

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Brighton v Chelsea
Saturday February 8, 20:00
Live on ITV4

Hurzeler criticised for Brighton capitualtion 

Brighton suffered their heaviest league defeat since the opening day of the 1958-59 season as they were thrashed 7-0 at Nottingham Forest last weekend. Head coach Fabian Hurzeler was heavily criticised for his selection and tactics at the City Ground after opting for an attack-minded formation in the absence of midfielders Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari.

Georginio Rutter and Yankuba Minteh were restored to the XI, that also featured Joao Pedro, Danny Welbeck and Kaoru Mitoma, and the Seagills found themselves 3-0 down at the break. Hurzeler replaced Jack Hinshelwood, Mitoma and Pedro with Matt O'Riley, Simon Adingra and Diego Gomez at the interval, and things really unravelled after the interval.

Speaking post-match, Hurzeler said: "A bad performance, a bad result, I'm very disappointed. I want to see a reaction from the team, but we win together, and we lose together. It is also a test, for the individual characters and for the group, to see how we deal with this. Games like this are bad, but maybe it is a signal for us to show a reaction."

Chelsea secure comeback success 

Chelsea returned to the top four in the Premier League after coming from behind to beat West Ham on Monday night at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were made to work hard for the three points with substitute Pedro Neto equalising for Enzo Marasca's side in the second half before Cole Palmer's deflected cross looped in to gift the win to the home side.

Chelsea and Maresca came into the contest in need of a win, having slipped from second to sixth in the space of six weeks with just six points from their past seven games. With fellow high-flyers Newcastle and Man City faltering over the weekend, the Blues made the opportunity count and underlined their top-four credentials with a solid fightback.

Maresca, who dropped goalkeeper Robert Sanchez for Filip Jorgensen, made more bold changes soon after the interval to revitalise his side. Nicolas Jackson and Jadon Sancho were withdrawn seven minutes into the second half in favour of the pace of Pedro Neto and 19-year-old Marc Guiu, whilst captain Reece James and Noni Madueke were also taken off early.

Seagulls struggling for form 

Brighton haven't relished recent meetings with Chelsea. Across all competitions, the Seagulls have lost four consecutive clashes against the Blues, including a 4-2 blitzing at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League match-up back in September. Meanwhile, Albion have tabled a solitary success in their last 11 home matches against the capital club (W1-D3-L7).

Brighton 3.002/1 have suffered back-to-back league losses without scoring with the Seagulls registering just two Premier League triumphs in 12 (W2-D6-L4) going back to November. Albion are ranked 12^th on Expected Points (xP) during that 12-game sample as only strugglers Ipswich and Southampton have generated fewer Big Chances.

Chelsea 2.447/5 have impressively progressed from 25 of their last 27 FA Cup fourth round ties and the Blues head to the south coast ranked fifth on Premier League xP during that same 12-game sample. Only Liverpool have created more Big Chances with the table-toppers also the only side above the Londoners in terms of Expected Goals (xG) output.

A south coast shootout

Brighton's high defensive line was ruthlessly exposed when the two teams met back in September - Chelsea boasted a massive 4.16 Expected Goals (xG) and engineered seven Big Chances that day. The Blues are well-capable of repeating that feat here unless Seagulls supremo Fabian Hurzeler can curb his attacking instincts and overhaul his approach.

Both Teams To Score has been the right selection in nine of Brighton's 11 league dates with fellow top-half teams with the same selection landing in 13 of Chelsea's 15 fixtures against the top-14. I'm happy to partner Chelsea to win alongside BTTS for a chunky 13/53.60 shot on Saturday night - it's proven to be the right play in each of the last three head-to-heads.

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