Southampton kick off Saturday’s Premier League action as they welcome Chelsea to St Mary’s Stadium.
Should Wolves lose on Friday evening, victory will send Southampton 12th whereas Chelsea can move into a point of Manchester United and Leicester with a win.
Team News
Alexandre Jankewitz could return for Southampton after completing a three match ban following his red card in a nine goal mauling at Manchester United earlier this month.
Kyle Walker-Peters (hamstring), Ibrahima Diallo (muscle), Will Smallbone (knee), Michael Obafemi (unspecified) and Theo Walcott (tendon) remain absent.
Chelsea could be without Tammy Abraham after he suffered an ankle injury in Monday’s win over Newcastle which forced him off the pitch just 20 minutes into the match.
Kai Havertz (knock) is also a doubt and the pair could join Thiago Silva (muscle) on the sidelines if all three are not deemed fit.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have won just one of their last five meetings against Chelsea (W1, D2, L2).
- Chelsea have claimed 19 points from their last seven trips to St Mary’s Stadium (W6, D1).
- Danny Ings has scored in each of his last two starts for Southampton against Chelsea (D1, L1).
- Jorginho is the only Chelsea player to have scored twice in six matches under Thomas Tuchel’s management.
- All four of Southampton’s home goals in 2021 across all competitions have come in the first-half.
Prediction
Southampton will be disappointed with last weekend’s defeat from a goal up because they were excellent in the first half with energetic attacks and creative passing play, yet careless defending and poor finishing cost them after half time.
Chelsea meanwhile delivered a dominant display against Newcastle but are yet to find to their best finishing edge, which is great credit of recent opposition given the Blues’ attacking quality despite having low but improving confidence and form at present.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints however have certainly made proper fights of their last three clashes against Chelsea, so we should expect a good game here but I can’t see the Blues losing here given their improved defensive efforts in recent weeks.
Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Chelsea
Result: Southampton 1-1 Chelsea
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