There's half a shout for a penalty to Brentford as Shandon Baptiste gets in a bit of a tangle with Alexis Mac Allister inside the box but nothing is given.

The visitors then have a couple of corners in quick succession, the latter of which ends with Baptiste seeing a close range shot closed down after the Seagulls fail to clear properly.

Shandon Baptiste has a pop from distance, always ambitious but it is blocked anyway.

Pretty decent start by both sides so far. Neither dominating possession yet as they size each other up.

Scott Minto
Former Chelsea and West Ham defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

It was the right decision for Tariq Lamptey to leave Chelsea and he's been fantastic when fit.

He's right up there for me in terms of Premier League right-backs if they can keep him fit and keep the high consistency level.

It will be interesting to see how Dominic Thompson gets on for Brentford and he's started well I have to say.

A scare for Brighton as Bryan Mbeumo is suddenly in after running onto a ball over the top. He lobs the goalkeeper but Dan Burn clears before the offside flag goes up anyway. Tight call, though.

Brighton almost capitalise on Brentford's desire to play out from the back early on as Neal Maupay puts pressure on Alvaro Fernandez as the Bees keeper receives the ball but he just manages to clear in time.

Of we go with the final Premier League game of the day.

Brighton haven’t won in 11 Premier League matches and it’s also 11 games since they last won on 26 December. dating back to the 2005-06 season.

Apparently that's currently the longest ongoing run without a league win of any side in the top four tiers of English football on this date.

Chelsea

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel to Sky Sports: “We have another injured player. We play against a team with no international duty. At some stage it’ll catch us.

"We let Callum Hudson-Odoi play 90 minutes because we needed to change other players. Who decided that? They make us play. We play two more cup games. We play against teams with games postponed. This cannot be the right way.

"Not enough changes for us. Five subs was invented because of Coronavirus. Europe has a winter break but we play through and put it on the players' shoulders. They make us play all the time even if we have Covid. We have new injuries and it won’t stop. People at the green table, in offices make these decisions.

"It’s not fair today. He [Lukaku] had a very good performance. He’s not ready for that even if he wants it. We’ve all been in bed for 10 days with flu. He was a game changer today. I’m super impressed with the guys but I’m super concerned.

"We will have the same discussion on Wednesday again. Nobody asked us. If we say what we want to change it’s not possible.

"We are struggling, we are pressing our players. I have maximum respect for what the players did today.

"We do changes because of injuries. We don’t change for tactical reasons any more. We thought Hudson-Odoi can share minutes with Lukaku but Kante is injured, Silva is injured. We have three changes. It backfired on us. Hudson-Odoi was outstanding today, one of his very best performances. We were in doubt he can play one half but he played 90 minutes."

Aston Villa

Speaking to Sky Sports, Aston Villa assistant manager Gary McAllister: "Looking at the result, I think it flatters Chelsea a bit. They have some very good players. Romelu Lukaku made a difference. I felt that we played some good football and we kept the ball away from our goal, but then they made the changes, and they came out on top.

"In the phases of play I thought we were better in possession at times but the wrong decision was made with the final pass at times. We started the second half very slowly and we sunk a bit, and hence lost that goal to Lukaku's header. We tried to play with an intensity and make passes.

"We know it is very important to get possession of the football against a quality side like Chelsea. We have played City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the last few weeks and had the chance to have a look at the elite teams and it's encouraging that we have competed very well. A bit of identity is starting to appear."

Chelsea

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel to BBC Sport: "We showed a very good reaction after their goal. The own goal made things super complicated. The reaction was very good. We defended strong and did not allow big chances. It was a deserved win but hard work.

"We have concerns for injured players. We let Callum Hudson-Odoi play 90 minutes after Covid. Thiago Silva got injured. N'Golo Kante is injured. Mateo Kovacic is playing after injury and Covid without any preparation and training. We’re just filling holes where we can fill them. We play teams without international duties. Five changes were invented because of Covid. Now we're in the middle of Covid and some teams are having games postponed and others aren't. Three changes is a big disadvantage."

Should five subs be allowed? Will they? "Of course. Zero chance. We are the only league who play in winter which I love but we’re not protecting the players. All other leagues have five changes. Then we compete against them in the Champions League. It's a bit frustrating. It will not stop. Brighton will play a super physical game then we have two games against Spurs, who are out of Europe and fully focused on the league and Carabao Cup.

"No, I was not aware of [Lukaku's excellent] record against Villa. I should have known this before. We decided at half-time to have a bit more threat and create more problems. I was happy he was involved. He was the game changer today. We took a lot of risks - 45 minutes was more than the medical department recommended. Who knows if it's the right thing to do."

I'm seeing quite a few empty seats at the Amex with kick off just over 10 minutes away. Seagulls boss Graham Potter said he was expecting a low turnout because of the late kick off time.

Nothing to separate these two teams in terms of points on the board with both on 20.

The Bees are in the better form at the moment with two wins and two draws from their last five games while Brighton have not won since September, with about 500* draws since then.

*possible exaggeration.

Image source, Getty Images

A reminder we have one more game coming up tonight as Brighton entertain Brentford at 20:00 GMT.

There's been two or more goals in every Premier League game so far today, so no pressure...

Bigdaddy Terry: Is there any casual still criticising Romelu Lukaku? What a player. I can't wait to have Havertz and Werner back. Now our season restarted again. Chelsea are back in business. Watch out Manchester City and Liverpool.

Wolves have their game at Arsenal on 28 December postponed because of coronavirus cases in the Midlands club's camp.

Chelsea

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku to Sky Sports: “I needed a performance like this today. It’s been difficult getting the end of games. I kept working hard. I’m happy with my performance and have to push on.

“I try to be less static and on the move all the time. It was a brilliant cross.

“My preferred action is running into space, using my speed and my power.

"We are the hunters now. The last results were not the best and now we have to chase. We have to treat every game like a final. Today we won and now we have to push on.

"We had to win the game. Credit to Steven Gerrard and his staff. It was not easy for us. Our quality came through."