Chelsea beat a depleted Brighton & Hove Albion 4-3 at Stamford Bridge, but the win exposed defensive fragility under new manager Xabi Alonso despite an encouraging attacking start to his tenure. The result continues Chelsea's positive start to the season following last term's chaotic collapse against the same opponents, but conceding five goals in their first two league matches suggests Alonso still needs to tighten his side's defensive structure if a genuine title challenge is to be sustained.

Chelsea raced into a three-goal lead through Roméo Lavia, Pedro Neto and João Pedro, exploiting a Brighton side missing five first-team players including Jack Hinshelwood and Kaoru Mitoma. However, Brighton fought back to make it tense before Cole Palmer's late strike sealed the win at 4-2, with Brighton adding a third late on. New goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, signed from Aston Villa for £7.5m, made his debut in place of the discarded Robert Sánchez but was denied a clean sheet, while Enzo Fernández was again left out amid ongoing speculation over a move to Manchester City.