HomeTeams - PLChelseaChelsea v Southampton Preview | Team News, Stats & Key Men

Chelsea v Southampton Preview | Team News, Stats & Key Men

Premier League leaders Chelsea host 7th placed Southampton on Sunday, the 15th of March. Having won the Capital One Cup, the Blues will look to add to their silverware this season, with Premier League in sight with just 11 games to go. Coming off a defeat to PSG, Chelsea manager and players will have very less time to leave behind the painful memory of the ouster and attend to the task at hand. Once high-flying Southampton have seen their fortunes drop. However, the club sits just 4 points off the 4th placed Manchester United in the 7th spot and a run of good games could see them back in the fold for a Champions League spot finish.

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Team News

Chelsea

Chelsea will be without the services of John Obi Mikel (Knee), who is due to make a comeback to this side in the start of April. The club could however, have some issues with regards to the management of certain players as the team has had a number of games and fatigue amongst the players is beginning to rise as an issue.

Southampton

Jay Rodriguez’s tryst with his ACL injury continues as he is yet to make a comeback and looks set to miss the whole of this season. Apart from the injured striker, Ronald Koeman has his critical players intact and would be looking to add to the woes of a hurting Chelsea side.

Interesting Facts

  • This will be the 84th meeting between these sides in all competitions.
  • Of the 84 games played between the sides, 37 have been won by Chelsea, 23 by Southampton, while the rest have ended as draws.
  • Chelsea’s last loss at home to Southampton came in the 2001/02 season.

Possible Line-Up

Chelsea

Courtouis, Azpilicueta, Terry, Zouma, Ivanovic, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Costa

Southampton

Forster, Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida, Bertrand, Wanyama, Schneiderlin, Elia, Djuricic, Mané, Pellè

Key Men

Eden Hazard

The Belgian has lived up to his reputation as one of the best players in the league with his consistent performances through the reason. With 10 goals and 6 assists in 27 appearances this season, Hazard has been crucial to Chelsea’s good form. With Southampton showing a robust and organised defensive discipline, he will need to be at the best of his game to leave an impact on the game. He has completed a whopping 122 of the 192 take-ons he has completed this season and has often been seen running rings around the opposition’s defence and effecting an impressive 74 chances so far. Going by these numbers, Chelsea fans have gotten into

Dusan Tadic

Dusan Tadic, like Eden Hazard has been pivotal to the attacking unit of his team. The Serbian has recorded 3 goals and 61 chances that have yielded a total of 7 assists. However, a concern for the player and his manager would be the lack of any assists for the player since the end of December. He will need to link up well with other attackers in the side to break a defensive formation put up by master technician Jose Mourinho. With Ward-Prowse playing central for Southampton, Tadic will be on the left and hence will encounter the in-form and as ever underrated Ivanovic who could make his time on the pitch tough. Koeman and Tadic will need to get their tactics intact to break a rather resolute Blues defense on Sunday.

Head-To-Head

2014/2015 Southampton 1 – 1 Chelsea Premier League
2013/2014 Southampton 0 – 3 Chelsea Premier League
Chelsea 3 – 1 Southampton Premier League
2012/2013 Southampton 2 – 1 Chelsea Premier League
Chelsea 2 – 2 Southampton Premier League

Prediction

Chelsea have won 4 of their last 6 home games while Southampton have won 4 of their last 6 away games making this an interesting fixture especially from the perspective of the lucrative 3rd and 4th spot.  Despite the morale of the squad being hit with the ouster from UCL, we expect Jose Mourinho to do enough to churn out a win in what could be a very tough game for the blues. We expect Chelsea to win the tie 1-0.

Aditya Upaadhyay
Aditya Upaadhyay
A masters in finance with a passion for football and an urge to work at the intersection of both.
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