Dreadful Chelsea stat from Brighton defeat highlight how poor Blues have been this season

Chelsea suffered a 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday (April 15). Conor Gallagher gave the Blues the lead before Danny Welbeck equalised. Julio Enciso scored a blinder to hand the West Londoners their third straight defeat across competitions.

Mykhaylo Mudryk provided the assist for Gallagher's goal. The Ukrainian now has two assists since his January arrival. While the stat is not massively impressive, he's the team's highest assist provider this season. It goes to show how below par the Blues have been so far this season.

Chelsea remain in 11th place as a result of their defeat. They have 39 points from 31 Premier League games. Frank Lampard's nightmarish tenure as the caretaker manager continues, as he has now lost all three games in charge.

Things could get worse, as the Blues play Real Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Lampard's team lost the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu 2-0 in midweek.

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Chelsea manager Frank Lampard bemoans Brighton & Hove Albion defeat

Frank Lampard faced the media following Chelsea's defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. The legendary midfielder was quizzed about how much of the team's performances are due to physical aspects and how much they are due to mental issues.

Lampard pointed out some key issues (via football.london):

"Hard one. Physical is work and to be a top team there's no doubt you have to be towards the top of the physical numbers and that is an individual and collective thing. A mental thing, we have to be there to support the players. A collective strong group only comes through the individual."

He added:

"There can be some mitigating factors with some change but it can't be an excuse. From today's performance, it's clear. I'm not going to dress this up, the players wouldn't want me to. You have to have the extra bits, we were short today."

Lampard needs to get the team's bearings back together soon if they are to upset Real Madrid. Given the team's current league form, they're unlikely to get anywhere near the top four.

Considering Chelsea lost the first leg against Los Blancos as well, it looks increasingly likely the Blues will miss out on the UEFA Champions League next season.