Brighton looking down on Chelsea ahead of newest Premier League grudge match
Pascal Gross knows money doesn’t buy happiness before Brighton take on big spenders Chelsea in the Premier League ’s newest grudge match.
Over the last 18 months the West London club have given Albion over £200m for Graham Potter and his coaching team, Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo as part of a £1bn spree. But Brighton finished above the Blues last season to qualify for Europe for the first time - and still look down on them in eighth place now after reaching the Europa League knockout stages.
Chelsea have not beaten Brighton in the Premier League since September 2020 while Roberto De Zerbi’s first win ended Potter’s nine-match unbeaten start in October 2022. There was much schadenfreude on the South Coast when the Italian improved on Potter’s great work at the Amex Stadium while the former Swansea boss was sacked after only 31 games.
The irony was that Chelsea had wanted to build like Brighton. But free-spending Chelsea against money-smart Brighton has become a fiery fixture where victory gives special pleasure to Albion fans.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a rivalry but we want to win every game and it’s a difficult game,” said German midfielder Gross. “They have taken a lot of our players from us. They have more money than us, so they can do that but that doesn’t matter on the pitch.
“Is Brighton a happier place than Chelsea? I think Brighton is a happy place. I don’t know about Chelsea. I’ve never been there and I concentrate on my club. Brighton is a good place to be. We are growing. We fight for each other and we have a lot of good people around here, and great times ahead.”
Billy Gilmour left the Blues in the summer after he was told he was surplus to requirements to add to the ex-factor. The Scotland midfielder is now
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