Latest EPL standings as well as fixtures and results are found below the predictions.
Chelsea set out to make it five English Premier League wins on the bounce this Saturday, as they head to St Mary’s Stadium to face a Southampton side in something of a crisis.
Thomas Tuchel has made an imperious start to life at Stamford Bridge, winning four on the spin and conceding just once in the EPL since overseeing an opening night draw with Wolves.
The German coach has engineered a rise back into the Champions League qualification places since replacing club legend Frank Lampard, with second and third-placed Manchester United and Leicester now just four points away.
Tammy Abraham won?t feature this weekend after suffering an ankle injury during Monday’s success over Newcastle.
Veteran Olivier Giroud could make a start in the youngster’s place, with Kai Havertz still on his way back from a spell on the sidelines.
Thiago is also nearing a return, although he may be held back for European duty next week.
Everything looked rosy for Southampton when they toppled reigning champions Liverpool 1-0 on 4 January.
But six consecutive Premier League defeats since then, including a 9-0 humiliation at Manchester United, is leaving them grateful for their sparkling early season form.
The Saints are 13th in the standings and looking down rather than up, with ten points now separating them from the relegation zone.
Kyle Walker-Peters went off injured in last Sunday’s loss to Wolves and likely won?t play this weekend, which could nudge boss Ralph Hasenhuttl into a change to three at the back.
Theo Walcott, Michael Obafemi and Will Smallbone are all ruled out, with Ibrahima Diallo needing a late assessment.
Southampton vs Chelsea: By the numbers
- Coming into this game, Southampton has picked up 0 points from the last 5 games, both home and away. That’s 0 points per game on average. BTTS has landed in an intriguing 3 of those games. Southampton has scored 4 times in the last 5 fixtures.
- We might see some goals in this one, with the last 3 games involving Southampton has ended with 3 or more goals being scored. Will Chelsea get in on the action today? There has been a total of 22 goals in the last 5 games for Southampton, both home and away.
- Can Southampton turn this around? They have not won in the last 5 games coming into this, with 0 draws and 5 defeats.
- Things have not been going that well in front of goal for Southampton recently, with the side failing to score in 2 of the last 5 games. Will the manager change his tactics today, or throw in another forward?
- In the last 5 matches for Southampton, 3 of those games has ended with both teams scoring. This season 10 matches (43% of all matches) involving Southampton has seen BTTS landing.
- Coming into this game, Chelsea has picked up 13 points from the last 5 games, both home and away. That’s 2.6 points per game on average. BTTS has landed in just 1 of those games. Chelsea has scored 7 times in the last 5 fixtures.
- Chelsea has enjoyed playing away from home recently, with the side currently unbeaten in 2 games.
- Momentum is really building for Chelsea as they have now gone 5 games without losing. They have won 4 of the last 5 games they have played.
- Chelsea has kept 4 clean sheets in the last 5 games, conceding one goal during this period. Overall this season, their defence has kept a clean sheet on 11 occasions.
- Chelsea is unbeaten in the last 5 games coming into this fixture against Southampton, having won 4 and drawn 1. They have scored 7 goals in those 5 games.
- Just 1 of the last 5 games for Chelsea has ended with both teams scoring. They have won 4 of those 5 games. Overall, BTTS has landed in 10/24 games for Chelsea this season.
- It’s likely that Chelsea will score today, as they have netted in the last 4 games coming into this one and have scored 7 goals in the last five games.
Stats source: footystats.org
Southampton vs Chelsea: 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.
Southampton vs Chelsea: EPL starting XI prediction
Probable Southampton Starting XI: Alex McCarthy, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Mohammed Salisu, Stuart Armstrong, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Ryan Bertrand, Takumi Minamino, Danny Ings, Che Adams.
Probable Chelsea Starting XI: Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso, Mason Mount, Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud.