Chelsea moved up to sixth in the Premier League table with a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night.

Mauricio Pochettino’s 50th game in charge of the Blues ended with his side making it four consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since October 2022.

Cole Palmer’s 22nd Premier League goal of the season – and his 27th in all competitions –plus a second from Christopher Nkunku helped the Blues move three points above Newcastle United and Manchester United in seventh and eight respectively, after the Red Devils beat the Magpies 3-2 also on Wednesday onight.

It means Chelsea will head into their final game of the season at home to Bournemouth on Sunday knowing victory would guarantee us European football next season.

Pochettino made one change to his starting line-up, as Malo Gusto came in at right-back, Trevoh Chalobah shifted over to centre-half and Thiago Silva moved to the substitutes bench. Ben Chilwell was also back in the match-day squad for the first time in almost a month, as Axel Disasi dropped out.

The Blues’ steady improvement this season means only three teams have picked up more Premier League points than Chelsea (35) since Boxing Day 2023 – the current top three: Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Chelsea started the game brightly at the Amex and Noni Madueke forced a save from Bart Verbruggen as early as the third minute when he cut in from the right flank and had a low left-footed shot from the edge of the area palmed away.

Simon Adingra shot wide for Brighton, following good play by Chelsea Academy graduate Tariq Lamptey, soon after and Cole Palmer had an effort from 20 yards comfortably saved before a moment of controversy.