Joao Pedro faces threat of being outshone by former teammate in Chelsea vs Brighton after insane display

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Chelsea’s next challenge is a Premier League meeting with Brighton, where Joao Pedro will face his old side.

After a disheartening couple of weeks, Chelsea will look at Saturday’s clash as a must-win.

Over the summer, Joao Pedro became the latest in a long list of Chelsea signings to come off the Brighton production line.

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Pedro was allowed the luxury of a night off against Lincoln after starting every game this season. The hope is that the small issue with Pedro that Enzo Maresca mentioned will be put behind him.

The game will be at Stamford Bridge, so all the focus won’t be on the Brazilian, but he will want to get the best of his old teammates nonetheless.

There is one Brighton player in red-hot form, who threatens to spoil the fun for Chelsea’s new talisman.

Brighton’s Diego Gomez comes into Chelsea game in red-hot form

As Chelsea were struggling to contain Lincoln City on Tuesday night, Brighton were putting six past their Carabao Cup opponent. The victim this round was Barnsley, who were blitzed by Diego Gomez’s first-half hat-trick.

It’s a second-straight 6-0 victory in the cup, against a side just two points behind Lincoln in League One.

Gomez’s performance would get even better, with another goal in the second half taking his tally to four for the night.

Pedro, who hasn’t been at full fitness of late, will be looking to outperform the Paraguayan at the weekend, but current form suggests that might be a challenge.

Worrying Chelsea trend music to Gomez’s ears

The Brighton midfielder took just 33 minutes to bag a hat-trick on Tuesday.

One of the main downfalls for Maresca’s side this season directly relates to that. Chelsea have been awful in the first half of their games. Their 5-1 West Ham win excluded, the Blues have scored just one first-half goal this season.

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Conversely, seven of the nine goals they have conceded have come in the opening 45 minutes.

Brighton went two ahead against Spurs last weekend, and three to the good against Barnsley, all before the break in play. They will be licking their lips at the opportunity to start strong again on Saturday, and the numbers suggest they will do just that.

Unless Chelsea can figure this issue out.