02 December 2023 , 22:30
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Pascal Gross knows money doesn’t buy happiness before Brighton take on big spenders Chelsea in the Premier League ’s newest grudge match.
Over the last 18 months the West London club have given Albion over £200m for Graham Potter and his coaching team, Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo as part of a £1bn spree. But Brighton finished above the Blues last season to qualify for Europe for the first time - and still look down on them in eighth place now after reaching the Europa League knockout stages.
Chelsea have not beaten Brighton in the Premier League since September 2020 while Roberto De Zerbi’s first win ended Potter’s nine-match unbeaten start in October 2022. There was much schadenfreude on the South Coast when the Italian improved on Potter’s great work at the Amex Stadium while the former Swansea boss was sacked after only 31 games.
The irony was that Chelsea had wanted to build like Brighton. But free-spending Chelsea against money-smart Brighton has become a fiery fixture where victory gives special pleasure to Albion fans.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a rivalry but we want to win every game and it’s a difficult game,” said German midfielder Gross. “They have taken a lot of our players from us. They have more money than us, so they can do that but that doesn’t matter on the pitch.
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Pascal Gross is looking forward to the clash with Chelsea (Costas Baltas/REX/Shutterstock)“Is Brighton a happier place than Chelsea? I think Brighton is a happy place. I don’t know about Chelsea. I’ve never been there and I concentrate on my club. Brighton is a good place to be. We are growing. We fight for each other and we have a lot of good people around here, and great times ahead.”
Billy Gilmour left the Blues in the summer after he was told he was surplus to requirements to add to the ex-factor. The Scotland midfielder is now flourishing. Chief executive Paul Barber, who has overseen Brighton’s transition from the Championship to European contenders, insisted: “Roberto will see it as another Premier League game and a difficult one. Chelsea have got a good squad and a fantastic coach ( Mauricio Pochettino ), they've spent a lot of money.
Billy Gilmour moved the other way from Chelsea to Brighton (AP)"Of course they're going to want to do well in any game regardless of whether it is us or not. There is that added little thing, I guess, for the fans because of what has happened over the last 18 months but we'll go into it as if it's any other difficult Premier League game away from home.”
James Milner eased Brighton’s injury problems by coming off the bench in the 1-0 midweek win at AEK Athens which saw Albion qualify from a tough group also including Marseille and Ajax.
“It's tough playing every few days and it's a new experience as a club but you want that success, don't you?” said the former Manchester City and Liverpool star.
"We want to win every game so it's a big game and we want to go and put in a good performance off the back of Athens. It's important to use the confidence and feeling and take it into the weekend. Are Chelsea different from the sides I have faced before? Chelsea's Chelsea, they're always a strong team.”