Gary Neville rips into ‘useless’ Nkunku & Palmer after Chelsea loss to Brighton | OneFootball

Chelsea lost to Brighton & Hove Albion for the second time in a week, with the Blues looking lacklustre and blunt in attack across both games.

The Blues are without first-choice centre-forward Nicolas Jackson, ruled out until April. Back-up striker Marc Guiu is also on the sidelines for some time after picking up an injury against West Ham United.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had to find solutions for the Premier League outing against Brighton after a listless attacking showing in the FA Cup match-up.

Unsurprisingly, the Chelsea gaffer rolled out the same uninspiring pairing of Christopher Nkunku and Cole Palmer to lead the line.

The Frenchman offered the West Londoners no thrust and zero presence in the opposition box, meaning Chelsea’s attacks kept breaking down in the final third.

Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer did not have a much better outing. The 22-year-old failed to provide a spark and was guilty of losing the ball too much and quite lackadaisically.

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville ripped into the Chelsea pair for their abysmal showing.

“Nkunku and Palmer, I didn’t see them make one forceful run in behind the Brighton defence. Brighton’s defenders waltzed through that game tonight. The Brighton players made runs in behind all night. It is simple.”

Chelsea never showed up for the game with the usually brittle Brighton. The Blues kept losing physical duels. The lack of threat in the Chelsea attack meant the defence was constantly under pressure. The rearguard did not cover themselves in glory.

Chelsea keeper Filip Jorgensen was shaky, while Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah were guilty of schoolboy defending. Yankuba Minteh had Marc Cucurella on skates, and Malo Gusto’s decline this season was glaring again against Kaoru Mitoma.

Chelsea need to go back to the basics of winning duels and maybe they can find some spark in attack but if they continue to play football at this appalling intensity, they will keep sliding down the table and further into mediocrity.