Chelsea vs Southampton
Time – India: 07:30 PM; UK: 03:00 PM (Saturday)
Venue – Stamford Bridge
Referee – Peter Bankes
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side are sitting seventh in the league table with seven points to their name – already five points adrift of early pace-setters Everton. But the Chelsea manager will be in a much calmer mood after his side beat Crystal Palace 4-0 before the international break.
Scoring four goals in a game would please anyone but it was the clean sheet that would have made Lampard happy especially after the 3-3 draw at West Brom.
On the other hand, Southampton are coming into the game on the back of two wins as well and will fancy their chances against a Chelsea side who are still suspect at the back.
The Saints are 11th in the Premier League table but are just a point away from Chelsea at this early stage of the season.
Chelsea will look to avoid any potential slip-ups after already dropping five points in their first four league games. But in Southampton, they have a trick team to deal with at home on Saturday.
Chelsea vs Southampton: Head-to-Head
Total matches: 106
Chelsea wins: 46
Southampton wins: 31
Draws: 29
Chelsea have the superior overall record against Southampton since their first meeting in February 1923, in an FA Cup clash.
Southampton did beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season but that came after a run of nine games without a win against the Blues.
Chelsea won eight and drawn one of these clashes between the home losses against the Saints in 2015 and 2019.
Chelsea vs Southampton: Recent form
Chelsea form (all competitions): W-L-D-W-L
Southampton form (all competitions) – W-W-L-L-L
Chelsea’s form has been patchy this season in the league despite the 4-0 win over Crystal Palace. Ahead of that win, they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Tottenham on penalties and more or less had a defensive meltdown in a 3-3 draw at West Brom.
The Saints are coming into the game on the back of back-to-back league wins over Burnley and West Brom respectively. However, they were beaten 5-2 by Tottenham last month and were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Brentford.
Chelsea vs Southampton: Team news
Chelsea
Summer signing Hakim Ziyech is finally fit to make his debut this weekend for Chelsea and Ben Chilwell has also recovered from a foot problem ahead of the game.
But new goalkeeping signing Edouard Mendy is set to miss out after suffering a thigh injury while on international duty and that could mean the return of Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal.
There are also doubts over N’Golo Kante’s fitness after he picked up an injury while on duty for France against Croatian on Wednesday.
Christian Pulisic is also available after missing the opening weeks of the season and is pushing for a place in the starting eleven.
Southampton
Midfielder Stuart Armstrong has been ruled out after testing positive for the coronavirus while on international duty with Scotland.
New signing Mohammed Salisu is still recovering from an injury and will be out of the squad again ahead of the Chelsea game.
Chelsea vs Southampton: Probable XI
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell; Jorginho, Kovacic; Mount, Havertz, Pulisic; Werner
Southampton possible starting lineup: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Walcott, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Redmond; Ings, Adams
Chelsea vs Southampton: Where to watch
India: Star Sports 2, Star Sports Select HD 2
UK: BT Sport Box Office (PPV)
Stream in India: Disney+ Hotstar
Stream in the UK: BT Sport App
Chelsea vs Southampton: Prediction
Chelsea have a terrific record at home and have won seven of their last eight games at Stamford Bridge with an aggregate scoreline of 18-4.
Indeed, Chelsea have kept clean sheets in five of their last six home outings across all competitions and have won their last two by a 10-0 aggregate score.
But in Danny Ings, Southampton have a striker who can cause problems to the Blues’ backline, but the home side should be too strong in west London against the Saints.
Chelsea vs Southampton predicted scoreline: 2-1
Also Read: 3 things to look forward to in gameweek 05: Premier League 2020-21