Chelsea travel to St Mary’s Stadium this weekend as they face Southampton in this Saturday’s early kick-off.
The Blues are looking to make it five successive wins in the Premier League under Thomas Tuchel and come into the game full of confidence after a comprehensive 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge against Newcastle.
Monday’s victory over the Magpies saw Chelsea climb into the top four for the first time since December 5th and recent results show how much of an instant impact Tuchel has made. Having not scored in the league since November 7th Timo Werner finally ended his long drought by scoring the Blues second of the evening against Steve Bruce’s men.
Since Danny Ings netted in a 1-0 win over Liverpool on January 4th Southampton have lost six on the bounce in the league. The Saints have dropped to 13th and looking down rather than up, with ten points now separating them from the relegation zone.
In the reverse fixture back in October at Stamford Bridge nothing could separate the two sides as it ended 3-3. Timo Werner fired Chelsea into an early 2-0 lead and Kai Havertz scored his first Premier League goal restoring the lead by making it 3-2, before Jannik Vestergaard equalised in injury time to see the points shared.
Team News
In Friday’s press conference Tuchel provided an update on the fitness of four players ahead of the game. Thiago Silva and Kai Havertz both returned to full training today after the pair missed the last three matches through injury. Tuchel confirmed Havertz is in the squad whilst Silva will miss the trip. This comes as a welcome boost for the Blues with two huge games coming up against Atlético Madrid and Manchester United, it will be important for Tuchel to utilise the squad depth he has at his disposal.
Hakim Ziyech who has only started twice since Frank Lampard was replaced will be hoping to be heavily involved this weekend. Christian Pulisic is a doubt for the game after injuring his calf.
One player who will definitely start this weekend is goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. The Chelsea head coach confirmed in his post-match interview after the Newcastle game Mendy for the moment is still very much his first-choice keeper as Kepa Arrizabalaga made just his second Premier League start of the season in the 2-0 victory.
Tammy Abraham will surprisingly feature this weekend after suffering an ankle injury in a tackle with Jamaal Lascelles which lead to him (Abraham) being replaced after 20 minutes by Olivier Giroud. Tuchel confirmed Abraham trained on Friday at Cobham with a view to being included in the squad.
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl today confirmed right-back Kyle Walker-Peters will be unavailable for the visit of Chelsea after sustaining a hamstring injury in last Sunday’s home defeat against Wolves. Ibrahima Diallo and Theo Walcott also remained side-lined with injury and Hasenhuttl stated he is “Still not very happy about what’s going on with our injuries” but remains positive about getting a result this weekend. (southamptonfc.com)
Speaking to chelseafc.com after the Newcastle game, Thomas Tuchel said:
“It was a very good night, the perfect evening. We knew we had the opportunity to jump into the top four. We took this chance.
“Now we’ve made this big step today we have to follow up and not lose any intensity or determination.”
Match Facts
Chelsea have won the last five Premier League meetings at Southampton.
Saints have won only one of the last 11 meetings in all competitions, drawing two and losing eight.
Danny Ings is one of only four players to score 30 Premier League goals since the start of last season.
Thomas Tuchel could become the first Chelsea manager since Carlo Ancelotti in 2009 to win his first three Premier League away games.
Form (All competitions)
Chelsea – WWWWW
Monday 15th February – Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
Thursday 11th February – Barnsley 0-1 Chelsea
Sunday 7th February – Sheffield United 1-2 Chelsea
Thursday 4th February – Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea
Sunday 31st January Chelsea 2-0 Burnley
Southampton – LWLLL
Sunday 14th February – Southampton 1-2 Wolves
Thursday 11th February – Wolves 0-2 Southampton
Saturday 6th February – Newcastle 3-2 Southampton
Tuesday 2nd February – Manchester United 9-0 Southampton
Saturday 30th January – Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa
Predicted line ups
Chelsea – 3-4-2-1: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Werner, Giroud.
Southampton – 4-4-2: McCarthy; Salisu, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Bertrand; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Minamino; Redmond, Ings.
Score prediction
Southampton 1-2 Chelsea
Am just happy havertz is back to the squad fit and able to play hope will have more goals from him We are also missing ziyech in this squad how on earth can werner see more goals I just think tuchel need tosee out his quality I just thinks his… Read more »