Chelsea face Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday night in a rearranged Premier League match that arrives with both clubs still carrying something to play for. The fixture was brought forward because Chelsea are in the FA Cup semifinals this weekend, when they will meet Leeds United at Wembley.
For Chelsea, the trip comes after a 1-0 loss to Manchester United on Saturday and extends a grim run of four league games in a row without scoring. The last time they suffered five successive matches without finding the net was in 1912, and the last time they lost four league games in a row without scoring was 1998. Their top-five hopes have now been extinguished by four consecutive defeats.
Brighton arrive from a very different place. They needed a 95th-minute equalizer to rescue a point at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and remain one of the Premier League's form teams. They are still chasing European qualification next season, and they could even earn a Champions League berth by usurping Chelsea and finishing sixth.
The gap between them is only one point, which gives Tuesday's match a sharper edge than the schedule alone suggests. Chelsea's attention is also split, with Wembley waiting this weekend, while Brighton know that a result against a fading rival could strengthen their case in the race for Europe.