Chelsea return to English Premier League fixture action on Saturday when they face Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
A hit-and-miss start to the new campaign took a turn for the better before the international break for Frank Lampard’s men, who put London rivals Crystal Palace to the sword.
Goals from Ben Chilwell, Kurt Zouma and a Jorginho double sealed a 4-0 victory over the Eagles to leave the Blues sitting seventh in the early EPL table.
Chilwell and N?Golo Kante are doubtful for Saturday after picking up injuries on international duty, with new keeper Edouard Mendy in the same position.
Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic could be in line for their first league starts of the new season.
Southampton went into the break off back-to-back wins, having lost their opening pair of fixtures.
A regulation 2-0 success over West Brom at St Mary’s Stadium two weeks ago hoisted the Saints to 11th in the Premier League standings.
Boss Ralph Hasenhuttl could be without Stuart Armstrong thanks to Covid-19 protocols, although Nathan Redmond could make his first EPL start of the campaign.
Returning hero Theo Walcott may also feature from the start in the capital, having returned to the club from Everton on transfer deadline day.
Chelsea vs Southampton: Prediction
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing.
Chelsea vs Southampton: EPL Line-up predictions
Probable Chelsea Starting XI: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner.
Probable Southampton Starting XI: Alex McCarthy, Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Ryan Bertrand, Theo Walcott, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Nathan Redmond, Danny Ings, Che Adams.