Chelsea will be looking to avoid setting a new unwanted goalscoring record when they take on Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
The Blues are looking increasingly unlikely to secure European football for next season, not helped by losing 2-0 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Despite needing to beat two of Real, Manchester City and Bayern Munich just to reach the final, that route was deemed the most likely to earn the club continental football for 2023-24.
That is a consequence of the West Londoners sitting in 11th place in the Premier League standings, 17 points adrift of the top four and seven behind their next opponents.
Facing a direct rival effectively makes the upcoming fixture at Stamford Bridge as one of Chelsea's most crucial of the campaign, yet Frank Lampard's side are lacking belief in the final third.
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After failing to score at the Santiago Bernabeu, Chelsea have gone four matches without finding the back of the net, the first time that has occurred since 1993.
However, Chelsea are at risk of setting more unwanted records in the game versus the Seagulls, this time in relation to their efforts at their home ground.
Chelsea - under Graham Potter and Bruno Saltor - have not scored a goal in the first half of their last eight top-flight fixtures at Stamford Bridge.
They have never gone nine home matches in the Premier League without netting in the opening 45 minutes, and they have done so in just one of their last 11 such encounters.
On a more positive note, Chelsea have not lost a single home league match to Brighton in their entire history, posting five victories and two draws in seven contests.
Nevertheless, Brighton's solitary league triumph over Chelsea came when the teams last met earlier this season, the South Coast outfit cantering to a 4-1 win over a side that were managed by former boss Potter.
Darren Plant
