Chelsea will welcome Southampton to Stamford Bridge this Saturday for their seventh match of the 2021/22 Premier League season.
Venue: Stamford Bridge (London)
Key Statistics
Chelsea have failed to score in their last two matches.
The Blues have won four of their opening six games of this season.
They have scored 12 goals and conceded just in the Premier League this season.
Southampton have won no game in the PL this season (D4, L2).
They have scored just four goals and have conceded seven.
Head to head
The last five meetings between both sides have ended with one win apiece for each team.
But overall, Chelsea have a better record in this tie.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Chelsea: L-L-W-W-W
Southampton: L-W-D-D-D
Chelsea
After suffering back to back one-nil losses, Chelsea will look to bounce back this weekend when they welcome Southampton.
Thomas Tuchel‘s side were beaten 1-0 by Juventus in their UEFA Champions League tie in midweek, and are now trying to avoid losing three straight competitive games. The last time they lost three straight 90 minutes games in the same season was in September/October 2002.
They are still involved in the title race and are within the top of the table. But their momentum seems to have been punctured following a series of poor results that saw them win one game in four matches within 90 minutes.
The Blues have found the Saints tough opponents across the last five meetings (W1, D3, L1) but will be confident of picking up a win here considering their squad depth.
A win will keep them within the top four while a loss will probably see them drop out of Champions League places.
Reece James, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount are injury absentees for this game, while N’Golo Kante misses out through Covid.
Possible Chelsea starting line-ups
Eduoard Mendy; Christensen, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Caesar Azpilicueta, Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso; Kai Havertz, Timo Werner; Romelu Lukaku..
Southampton
Southampton have struggled to replicate their form of last season this term and are languishing in the bottom half of the table after six rounds of matches.
The Saints are still chasing their first league win of the season after(D4, L2). Only Wolverhampton Wanderers and Norwich City have scored fewer goals this season than Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side, who are currently on their worst six-game start since the 2012/13 season.
However, the visitors will fancy their chances of finally getting their first three points of the PL season in London.
Stuart Amstrong and Jack Stephens will miss the trip to London through injuries. But Theo Walcott and William Smallbone could be fit enough to start after they returned to training recently.
Possible Southampton starting line-ups
Alex McCarthy; Timo Livramento, Jen Bednarek, Mohammed Salisu, Kyle Walker-Peters; Mohamed Elyounoussi, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Moussa Djenepo; Che Adams, Adam Armstrong.
Prediction
Despite their recent struggles, Chelsea have a solid squad and should prove too strong for Southampton at the Bridge.
