Enzo Maresca reveals what Chelsea squad must stop doing as Liverpool reality explained

Enzo Maresca has told his Chelsea players they need to stop “giving away presents” after a second successive red card cost them at home to Brighton.

The Blues slumped to a 3-1 defeat to the Seagulls after another red card cost them, with Trevoh Chalobah being sent off on 53 minutes for denying Diego Gomez a goal-scoring opportunity. Enzo Fernandez’s first-half header was cancelled out by Danny Welbeck, who made an immediate impact after being introduced in the second period.

Maxim De Cuyper handed Brighton the lead in stoppage time, before Welbeck scored his second and the Seagulls’ third with one of the final kicks of the game. Chalobah will now serve his one-match suspension when champions Liverpool come to Stamford Bridge next weekend, leaving Maresca with only three senior central defenders available while Wesley Fofana (concussion), Tosin Adarabioyo (calf) and Levi Colwill (knee) are all absent.

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Maresca has warned his players they cannot continue to make life so difficult for themselves following back-to-back sending offs in the league. “The message that we just said inside [the dressing room] has been quite clear: against any team in the Premier League you cannot continue to give away presents,” said the Chelsea head coach.

“Because what we are doing in this moment is to give away presents in terms of red cards, that is a big mistake because the game completely changed." Maresca continued: “For sure we need to learn, and we need to learn quick, so the reason why it can be a mix of experience or a mix of simple mistakes.

“Then in terms of injuries, I think that if you just watch first-half today, you do not think about the injured players, because first-half again we were in control, dominating the game. And then, again, I would like to tell you something different, but at the end it is the reality of the last two games, unfortunately with two red cards everything changed.”

A frustrated Maresca now only has Jorrel Hato, Josh Acheampong and Benoit Badiashile to choose from as senior centre-back options for their next Premier League game next weekend.

Hato and Acheampong are very inexperienced when it comes to English top-flight football, with just five starts between them in the competition.

Badiashile is the other option, but Saturday afternoon was the French defender’s first appearance since the Club World Cup round of 16 back in June.