After delivering a winning Bet Builder on Wednesday night, SlipsTips shares a player-based selection ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion’s clash with Chelsea in the Premier League on Friday night.
Brighton vs Chelsea (Friday, 20:00)
Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea will do battle for the second time in less than seven days when the pair face off at the Amex in the Premier League on Friday night.
The two teams contested an FA Cup fourth round tie at this venue last Saturday night, with Brighton coming from behind to take top honours with a 2-1 victory.
That was just the tonic for Fabian Hurzeler’s team following a humiliating 7-0 defeat away at Nottingham Forest the weekend prior to that.
As for Chelsea, they breathed some much-needed life into their bid for a top-four finish in the Premier league with a 2-1 win over West Ham in their previous Premier League outing.
A case could be made for either team here, however I’m going to opt for an alternative angle of attack and plump for a player-based selection.
Carlos Baleba has been priced up at 4/5 on Bet 365 to commit two or more fouls during this contest and that price holds plenty of appeal.
The Brighton midfielder's love of a strong tackle has often landed him in trouble with top-flight referees this season.
In fact, the combative Cameroonian is averaging 1.30 fouls per-game in the Premier League this season.
Dig deeper and it can be seen that the 21-year-old has given away two or more free-kicks in nine of the 18 Premier League games that he has started for Albion this term.
Across that 18-game sample, Baleba has committed exactly three fouls on five separate occasions, not to mention he has collected five yellow cards and one red card along the way.
With Baleba likely to be in direct battle with Cole Palmer on Friday night, there is plenty of scope for the Seagulls midfielder to make two or more misdemeanours.
The Chelsea talisman regularly finds himself on the receiving end of some rough treatment, evidenced by the fact that he is drawing a team-high average of two fouls per-90 in the Premier League this season.
Recommended Bet
- Carlos Baleba To Commit Over 1.5 Fouls – 4/5 (Bet 365)
Freelance Sports Writer and Betting Analyst with over five years experience. I’ve written football and darts betting content for some of the biggest betting websites and newspapers in the UK. With a strong passion for the fascinating world of Scottish football, I also regularly feature in Nutmeg, the much-loved Scottish football magazine. Falkirk season ticket holder and avid watcher of football and darts, whether it be UK-based or further afield. Feel free to follow me on X @SlipsTips
