Chelsea vs Southampton: Match preview and predictions
On Saturday afternoon Saints travel to London to take on reigning-champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Despite being sat in third place, Saturday’s opponents already look to have lost the title with top of the tree Manchester City having a huge 11-point lead. After beating Huddersfield Town 3-1 midweek and previously losing to West Ham 1-0, Chelsea are in mixed form but will definitely have confidence, especially as it is their home game.
Despite the defeat to rivals West Ham on Saturday, the Blues look solid, conceding few goals at the back and banging them in on a regular basis with Eden Hazard back in brilliant form!
However, Antonio Conte’s side haven’t been as brilliant as they were last season en route to the title.
Being 14 points behind top spot after only 17 games is partially down to inconsistency but they have also been unlucky to be competing for the title against a side who may have the title all but confirmed by February!
As for Saints, overall they’ve been in good form of late, putting out some respectable performances. Unfortunately, all of this hard work went down the drain on Wednesday night as a strong lineup lost 4-1 at home to ex-manager Claude Puel’s Leicester City.
Too many players didn’t show fight, determination or even looked to care which is hopefully changed come Saturday.
Fans will hope that Wednesday was a blip as before the team had been doing well with a 4-1 win against Everton, a superb display at Manchester City, despite losing 2-1, a good performance at Bournemouth and another draw with Arsenal, who relied on an 88th minute equaliser to take a point from St. Mary’s.
Related Story: Southampton vs. Leicester: Opposing fan's view
Why Chelsea will win
The Blues will go into the game as odds-on favourites, knowing that the Saints have struggled to pick up points against the league’s big six over the past 18 months. Despite valiant performances against City and Arsenal, Southampton have little to show for their efforts and Chelsea will be hoping for a similar result tomorrow.
Eden Hazard is enjoying another incredible season, flourishing in a free role under Conte. Up front, Alvaro Morata will prove a tough test for the Saints’ back-line, with Fraser Forster famously struggling against goal-mouth poachers and strikers who can header the ball.
Why Southampton will win
Liverpool aside, the Saints have played pretty well against just about every ‘big’ team they’ve faced under Pellegrino. The Manchester United result was harsh and they did well to keep City at bay – they should’ve probably won against Arsenal too.
The Saints are well overdue a victory against one of the big boys and they should come out tomorrow with fire in their bellies after such a rotten performance in mid-week.
Team predictions
Chelsea:
Goalkeeper: Courtuis
Defenders: Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta
Midfielders: Zappacosta, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso
Forwards: Hazard, Morata, Willian
Southampton:
Goalkeeper: Forster
Defenders: Cedric, Hoedt, Van Dijk, Bertrand
Midfielders: Boufal, Lemina, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Tadic
Forward: Austin
Prediction:
Chelsea 2-1 Southampton