Chelsea travel away to face high-flying Brighton
Separated by only one point in the congested Premier League standings, faltering Chelsea and high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion meet at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The Blues’ Champions League chances dwindled further on Saturday by virtue of a 1-0 loss to Manchester United, while the Seagulls enhanced their European credentials with a 2-2 comeback draw at Tottenham Hotspur.
Liam Rosenior‘s playing career ended at Brighton in 2018, and the 41-year-old’s hopes of leading Chelsea into Europe’s top competition next season could also be effectively over with another dissatisfactory result on the South Coast this week. Not only have Chelsea lost five of their last six games in all tournaments, but the visitors have drawn a blank in front of goal in all five of those defeats.
With the new manager bounce firmly worn off, Chelsea hold the unwanted honour of being the only side to lose each of their last four Premier League fixtures, after Matheus Cunha condemned the Blues to another disheartening defeat on Saturday evening.
Chelsea cannot rise any higher than sixth place in the Premier League table no matter what transpires on Tuesday evening, and their appalling run has allowed all of Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, Brighton and Everton to move to within touching distance of the Club World Cup champions.
However, the visitors remain vulnerable at the back and are entering crisis territory in terms of the club’s relationship with the fans – fractures which could no doubt seep down to the players – so Rosenior’s return to an inspired Brighton is likely to be a miserable one.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Relegation threatened Issahaku & Ayew’s Leicester face Hull City in make or break game
Second-from-bottom Leicester City welcome Hull City to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night in a crucial clash at both ends of the Championship table.
The Foxes were left staring at relegation following a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth, leaving them eight points adrift of safety with just three games remaining, while the Tigers extended their winless run to four matches after a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City.
Following their relegation from the Premier League last season, Leicester City would have entered the 2025-26 campaign with hopes of fighting it out at the top end of the table.
Instead, with only three matches remaining, Gary Rowett’s side are on the verge of back-to-back relegations and face the very real prospect of dropping into League One for the first time since 2009.
Marti Cifuentes, Andy King and now Rowett have all shared the dugout as Foxes manager this season and failed to generate the consistency needed to steer the former Premier League champions clear of danger.
With time running out and two of their remaining fixtures coming against top-six opposition, Leicester’s hopes of survival appear slim, with their 11 league wins proving costly.
At opposite ends of the table and contrasting aims for how they wish to end the season, it looks like high-flying Hull City returning to winning ways with a comfortable away victory.
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Real Madrid attempt to bounce back as they host Alaves
Real Madrid will attempt to bounce back from their Champions League quarter-final exit when they take on Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu in Tuesday’s La Liga encounter.
Los Blancos are nine points adrift of leaders Barcelona in the La Liga table, while the visitors are hovering just above the bottom three.
Real Madrid head into the midweek fixture on the back of a four-game winless run that leaves them on the verge of finishing the season without any silverware.
That poor run of results includes a 2-1 defeat to Mallorca and a 1-1 draw with Girona in La Liga, leaving them nine points away from Barcelona with seven games left to play, including El Clasico on May 10.
Those two results took place on either side of a 2-1 defeat in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich, leaving them with significant work to do in the return fixture in glory.
With the league title realistically out of reach, the focus and speculation are already turning to the future of Alvaro Arbeloa and squad plans for the 2026-27 campaign.
However, Arbeloa’s charges must remain professional and put all their efforts into Tuesday’s outing at the Bernabeu, where they will attempt to record a ninth consecutive head-to-head win against Alaves.
Real Madrid may be resigned to defeat in the title race, but they will still want to produce a positive response to a poor run of form, and we think the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior could enjoy themselves against an Alaves team that has been vulnerable defensively in recent times.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Athletic Bilbao, Osasuna faceoff at San Mames
Just a point separates Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna ahead of Tuesday’s La Liga encounter at San Mames.
Los Leones head into matchday 32 in 11th position in the league table, two places behind their midweek opponents.
Athletic have enjoyed significant success in Ernesto Valverde‘s third spell in charge, ending their 40-year wait for Copa del Rey glory in 2024 and securing a top-four finish in the 2024-25 campaign.
However, they have fallen short of those standards in the current campaign, ultimately contributing to Valverde’s decision to leave his beloved club at the end of the season.
Valverde’s side may still have hopes of closing the six-point deficit to the top six, but they will also be wary of the same gap separating them from the bottom three, especially as they are out of form with four defeats in their five matches.
Athletic can at least take confidence from the fact they have avoided defeat in nine of their previous 10 La Liga meetings with Osasuna (W4, D5).
Osasuna, meanwhile, are sitting seven points clear from the drop zone and five points adrift of sixth-placed Celta Vigo ahead of the trip to San Mames.
Athletic come into the game on the back of a poor run of results, but they have avoided defeat in their last five meetings with Osasuna, and we think they will extend that run by playing out a draw against a team that has found wins hard to come by on the road.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
