Chelsea will visit to St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday to face Southampton in the Premier League. The Blues will be playing their eighth match of the Premier League. Chelsea will be desperate to win the match as they will be eager to be in the top three positions in the Premier League. Chelsea are currently situated at the third position in the Premier League. They are just behind Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League. The Blues have collected 17 points in seven matches so far in the Premier League. They will not wish to drop any point now against Southampton at this point of time.
Team News :
Southampton :
Southampton will be desperate to get at least one point from this match. Otherwise they will fall in the relegation zone in the League Table. Danny Ings is in good form for them. The loaned from Liverpool has played exceptionally well in this season. On the other hand, Shane Long is not completely fit to start against Chelsea at St Mary’s Stadium today. The fitness test will be done ahead of the match to assess the playing condition of Shane Long. Charlie Austin could well be the direct replacement of Shane Long for the Saints; but the manager of Southampton might prefer to go with five midfielders in this match. We have observed that the Blues have struggled a lot to break the deadlock against the side who sit back in the defense throughout the whole match. The breaking power of this Chelsea side is still under question mark. So, the opponent manager will surely wish to give a lot of trouble to this Chelsea side in the 90 minutes on the field.
Chelsea :
Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea are not having any major injury problems as the likes of Pedro and Ruben Loftus Cheek are coming back from injury problems. Sarri has to choose between Willian and Pedro to start in this match. Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz will be the defensive pair in the central defense of the Blues. Kepa Arrizabalaga will in the Goal of Chelsea FC in this match. Marcos Alonso will be in the left flank while Cesar Azpilicueta will be in the right flank for Chelsea. Jorginho will be playing as deep lying playmaker for the Blues in this match. N’Golo Kante and Ross Barkley should start in the midfield along with Jorginho. Willian, Olivier Giroud and Eden Hazard will be leading the attacking line of the Blues in this match. Alvaro Morata will be in the bench for Chelsea in this match despite scoring the winning goal against Mol Vidi FC in the Europa League on Thursday. The players like Mateo Kovacic and Willian should get some rest as they are starting in almost every matches of Chelsea FC in every week.
Predicted Starting Eleven :
Southampton (4-5-1) :
Goalkeeper : McCarthy
Defenders : Cedric, Vestergaard, Hoedt, Bertrand.
Midfielders : Elyounoussi, Lemina, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Redmond
Attackers : Ings.
Confirmed Lineup for the Blues-
Chelsea (4-3-3) :
Goalkeeper : Kepa
Defenders : Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso.
Midfielders : Kante, Jorginho, Barkley
Attackers : Willian, Giroud, Hazard.
Kovacic has been dropped from the playing eleven and this is not a good thing, as he is one of the best players that the Londoners have in their squad. His creative talent has been the reason for some of the goals that Chelsea have scored this term. He will be missed.
My Predicted Scoreline :
Southampton 0-3 Chelsea.
