Fabian Huerzeler wants Albion to be “compact” at Stamford Bridge – and then cause Chelsea a few problems.
The head coach has a clear idea of how his side will have to defend, saying it will not always be the now famous high line.
He has also identified that much of the home side’s best build-up work could come from a player Seagulls fans know well.
There are clear indications that all is clicking for Enzo Maresca’s expensively-assembled – and expensively-trimmed – squad over recent weeks.
They will look for confirmation of that progress with a first home win in the Premier League this term to follow a 5-0 romp for their back-up men against Barrow in the Carabao Cup.
Familiar faces Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo are all coming good.
Sanchez got a light-heartedly cutting response from Adam Webster via social media after his recent penalty save in the narrow win at Bournemouth.
But the goalkeeper who graduated from academy to Prem with the Seagulls has been pinpointed as a man to watch with the ball at his feet.
Albion boss Huerzeler said: “Of course you have to analyse them by what they're doing tactically on the pitch and they have very good solutions.
“They have a great goalkeeper who starts trying to build up the game from the back, always with this pressure.
“He's a very good football player and then of course they have good positioning in possession, they are very fluent. I think Enzo (Fernandez) is also dropping into the midfield.
“Then on the other side they have great individual players.
“You have to keep focusing on where you can create a good match and don't create a mismatch. You try to put players in personal duels where you think that would be a good match.
“For example, against their wingers, who do you bring in as a full-back against Sancho, against Madueke? They're both very fast, both very good dribblers.
“Who do you bring against (Nicolas) Jackson, who's a fast striker and also good in possession?
“So on one side, of course the tactical thing, on the other side trying to find good matches.
“Besides that, how you want to press them, it's also very important to find a good solution in possession for ourselves.
“So how is the match plan with the ball? Because you can't go there and try to only defend.
“You have to go there and have a lot of courage with the ball.
“You have to try to build up with a clear idea and with good positioning, because then they also have to defend.
“This will be the thing that we will try to do.”
Jackson is averaging pretty much one goal per 90 minutes and is out-performing his xG by about 25%.
That is an improvement on last season, when his averages per 90 minutes were 0.45 goals scored and an xG of 0.60.
Maybe that is an indication to some at Stamford Bridge that giving newcomers time to settle and shine can be a shrewd policy.
Huerzeler said: “He is the full package. He wants to combine.
“He’s getting into space where he can combine with his team-mates, where he's there with [Cole] Palmer, with [Moises] Caicedo, with Enzo Fernandez.
“He's also very fast. He can attack, attack the back of us. This mix, this balance, makes him very dangerous for us.
“He's a top striker and, at the moment, he's in very good shape.
“You can't defend them in a one-against-one, you have to always try on one side to get pressure on the ball so that they can't play the long ball in behind, and on the other side you always need to find a good balance of how close you want to defend against them.
“So avoid that they have time on the ball and can play a long ball in behind.
“I think that's very important. Then if you get pressure you can defend with this high line because it's all about compactness.
“On the other side, I think there will be moments in the game where we have to defend in a low block.
“A low block means that you don’t give them the space behind our back four. We have to stay very low and stay compact.
“In the end, it's all about compactness.
“When you go high, high pressure, you need to have a high line. Otherwise you're not compact.
“If you go low, you have to come back so that you are compact. Otherwise it won't work.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here