Sunday brings a clash that features two sides at opposite ends of the Premier League table as Chelsea FC visit Southampton FC. The Blues come in just two points off the pace for the league lead, and well aware that an opportunity to be level on points with the league leaders could emerge later in the day.
That’s because the only two teams ahead of them, Liverpool and Manchester City, are squaring off later that afternoon at Anfield, and a draw on Merseyside plus a Blues win at the St. Mary’s equals Chelsea at 20 points, tied with the Reds and Sky Blues.
As for Southampton, they managed to avoid relegation last season, but by a dangerously slim margin. This year has seen a return to that poor run of form and with it more concerns about getting the drop. They currently sit 16th, just one slot above the final safety position and only three points better than the current drop zone.
Both sides will be very fired up for this one, but for very different reasons.
In regards to the team news, Chelsea decided to rest a lot of their starters (including Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante) for tonight’s UEFA Europa League clash against Hungarian champions Vidi (starting XI below), so expect a lot of those first team players to come back into the first formation on the pitch on Sunday.
Our starting 11 for today's game! #CHEVID pic.twitter.com/zbpZJXCmzt
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 4, 2018
On the other side, Southampton boss Mark Hughes has a selection decision to make at goalkeeper. Should he bring Alex McCarthy back into the team, or keep Angus Gunn between the sticks after the 22-year-old was impressive in Tuesday night’s EFL Cup penalty shootout win over Everton.
Press Conference Video(s): coming tomorrow
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: coming shortly
TV/Kick-off: Sky Sports, 215 pm (BST), Sunday Oct 7
Odds via Sky Bet: Chelsea 8/13 Draw 3/1 Southampton 9/2
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Southampton 0
As always, feel free to post your own Chelsea and/or Southampton starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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