Mauricio Pochettino game plan for Brighton revealed amid obvious Chelsea advantage

Chelsea desperately need to bounce back from a humbling defeat at Newcastle United at the weekend when Brighton come to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The Blues put in a very lacklustre second-half display at St. James' Park in a game that ended 4-1 to the hosts with the visitors going down to 10 men.

After the game, head coach Mauricio Pochettino cut a frustrated figure after seeing his team capitulate in the second-half. Chelsea went into the break at 1-1 but conceded three goals in the second period to make it a comfortable and convincing victory for Newcastle.

«We thought we were ready to compete today but we didn't in the way the competition demanded,»Pochettino told reporters on Saturday, after he sat in the stands on Tyneside. «Even if Newcastle wasn't great, it was an easy win.

»To come here, Chelsea, and to show it would be difficult for them to play to win the game and beat us. It was so easy the way that we conceded. The way we were soft in every single challenge, we did not show we were playing for something important."

Pochettino and his players have now regrouped and are preparing for their Premier League match with Brighton on Sunday afternoon. And they have one clear advantage for when the Seagulls come to town.

Brighton have a 4,000-mile round trip to the capital of Greece as they take on AEK Athens on Thursday evening in their fifth Europa League group match. The Seagulls go into the game in second-place in Group B, knowing that a defeat to the Greek side will see the two teams joint on points.

It is a crucial game for Roberto De Zerbi and his squad, who will be desperate to get as far as they can in the European competition in what is a rare opportunity for the south coast club. So the Italian coach is expected