Chelsea-Southampton is a match valid for the twenty-fourth day of the Premier League and is played on Saturday at 16:00: TV, formations, predictions
Not even hearing the Champions League music again, a competition in which they had an almost flawless roster in the autumn, had a beneficial effect on Chelsea’s morale as they returned from the Dortmund trip with a defeat on their backs.
A great goal from the talented yellow and yellow Adeyemi, who was able to outrun the entire Blues’ rearguard with his speed, put Graham Potter’s side in a quandary. They will need to win by at least two goals in the return leg to avoid an elimination that would make a lot of noise given the new ownership’s ambitions. Meanwhile, the Londoners’ winless streak stretches to four games, having drawn three times in a row in the Premier League. The attackers’ poor offensive streak has now become an endemic problem. That not even the very expensive purchases arrived in the €300 million winter market (Joao Felix, Madueke, Mudryk) can solve. In the last five matches played between the various competitions Chelsea have barely scored two goals and have not won for over a month, since the success against Crystal Palace. Meanwhile, the bench of the former Brighton coach, chosen in September to replace Tuchel, is beginning to shake.
Another exoneration at Southampton
It’s February and the English capital club find themselves in tenth place, with ten points to make up towards fourth place, which now looks a long way off.
Elyounoussi
The chance to get back to winning ways is in the calendar: at Stamford Bridge comes Southampton, last in the standings but still in the running to keep their category. The Saints, however, have lost their last two games against unremarkable opponents such as Brentford and Wolverhampton, and it is really unlikely that they will get a result in London, despite facing a struggling Chelsea. The defeat against Wolves caused the dismissal of Nathan Jones: Ruben Selles will lead the team for the time being.
The Prediction
Chelsea are in desperate need of a return to success and there is a good chance they will succeed against the Premier League’s bottom side, Southampton. However, we do not expect a very prolific contest, given the Blues’ problems in ball possession.
The Chelsea-Southampton line-up probables
- CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Arrizabalaga; James, Thiago Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella; Loftus-Cheek, Enzo Fernandez; Madueke, Joao Felix, Mudryk; Havertz.
- SOUTHAMPTON (3-5-2): Bazunu; Caleta-Car, Bednarek, Salisu; Walker-Peters, Lavia, Ward-Prowse, Alcaraz, Perraud; Sulemana, Adams.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-0
