Fabian Hurzeler hailed the "unbelievable talent" of Diego Gomez after the Brighton midfielder's four-goal showing against Barnsley.

Gomez stole the show in Tuesday's EFL Cup tie at Oakwell, where Brighton claimed an emphatic 6-0 win.

The Paraguayan, signed from Inter Miami, scored Brighton's opening four goals, wrapping up a first-time hat-trick in sensational style with a stunning long-range strike.

Gomez became the first player to score four goals away from home in an EFL Cup match since Julio Baptista for Arsenal against Liverpool at Anfield in January 2007.

He has started just one Premier League match this season, but will be hopeful his stellar performance has put himself firmly in contention to feature from the off when Hurzeler's team take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

"We knew before that he had an unbelievable shot, but today he proved it on the pitch," Hurzeler told Brighton's media channels.

"We are very happy for him because he always practices and that's the main thing. You have to keep working, keep improving, you have to develop your skills and he does that every day, so I am very pleased for him.

"He has worked really hard for this goal, but he got into the game, he was always available, he always wanted to have the ball, he showed good body language when we lost the ball and this is the main thing that we have to keep on working with him on.

"He is an unbelievable talent for his age. But talent isn't enough, you have to work hard, you need to do the basics right if you want to do well."

Brighton gave away a 2-0 lead in their last league match, drawing 2-2 with Tottenham, and Hurzeler was not wholly impressed by his team's display at Barnsley.

"The first half was not the best. Of course, we scored goals, but we were not great in our positioning. Overall, we are pleased and Diego had some unbelievable moments, some great goals," Hurzeler added.

"The goals helped us to get better in our structure, especially in the second half when we played really good football and created a lot of chances."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chelsea - Moises Caicedo

Former Brighton midfielder Caicedo has made both the most tackles (21) and the most interceptions (15) of any player in the Premier League this season.

He has been responsible for 25.6% of their overall tackles (21/82), the highest ratio by a player in a season Opta has on record since 2006-07.

Brighton - Yasin Ayari

Ayari came off the bench to score against Barnsley, following on from his stunner against Spurs last week.

His strike against Tottenham came from 32.2 yards out. It is the joint-longest range goal Brighton have scored in the Premier League alongside Carlos Baleba's winner against West Ham in April.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN

Chelsea were hardly convincing in their 2-1 EFL Cup win over Lincoln City on Tuesday. However, they are unbeaten in their last 12 home Premier League games (W9 D3), keeping seven clean sheets in their last nine at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues are looking for four home clean sheets in a row for the first time since their first five under Thomas Tuchel between January and March 2021.

Brighton have drawn both of their Premier League matches when scoring first so far this season (1-1 v Fulham, 2-2 v Spurs) – though the Seagulls are unbeaten in their last 16 games when netting the first goal, 50% of them have ended all square (W8 D8).

The Seagulls have won three of their last six league meetings with Chelsea (L3), after winning none of their first 14 beforehand (D4 L10).

But in all competitions, Chelsea have won nine and lost just one of their 12 previous home games against Brighton (D2), winning their last three in a row since a 1-2 reverse in April 2023.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Chelsea - 58.1%

Draw - 21.8%

Brighton - 20.1%