Chelsea face an unbeaten Brighton in an all-important clash at Stamford Bridge. The Blues midfielder Romeo Lavia returns from injury while club captain Reece James is still out.<\/p>\n
Belgian midfielder Romeo Lavia signed from Southampton back in 2023 in what promised to be a revolutionary move for the 20-year-old, but it hasn’t quite panned out that way. Over a year has passed since the signing and Lavia has only featured in two Premier League fixtures, accumulating just 98 minutes of football<\/a>. Despite this, when he has featured, Lavia has been a fan favourite, impressing in pre-season and in Gameweek one this season against Manchester City where he completed 97% of his passes against an impressive City midfield as well as winning one tackle and three interceptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Former Southampton team-mate Nathan Redmon described<\/a> Lavia as having “unbelievable quality” and Chelsea will no doubt be glad to see this player return for selection.<\/p>\n Read More: <\/strong>‘Players Who Will Define The Season’<\/a><\/p>\n Chelsea captain Reece James is still side-lined with no indication of returning, Maresca seemed doubtful in his press conference about the full-back’s return stating: ‘with Reece, there is no real update on him at the moment’<\/a>. James has been plagued with injuries over the past few seasons and the news of no return date is definitely not what Chelsea fans want to hear. As well as being club captain James is also a key player for Chelsea on the pitch, he is a great defensive asset and provides a dangerous attacking outlet for the Blues down the right hand side.<\/p>\n The 21\/22 season was the last time James played over half the season, featuring in 26 Premier League games and returning five goals and nine assists, averaging at an impressive 0.68 goals\/assists per 90 minutes.<\/a>\u00a0James also featured towards the end of the 23\/24 season, most notably in his return game vs Nottingham Forest away from home where he picked up a game winning assist after being on the pitch just three minutes<\/a>.<\/p>\nReece James Still Out<\/h3>\n