Chelsea visits Southampton this weekend in a match-up of two sides headed in opposite directions. Under new management in Thomas Tuchel, the Blues are undefeated (W4, D1), with just one goal conceded. That was an own goal to boot by the way.
As for Saints, they have lost six in a row in the league, a new low, which was punctuated by United thrashing them 9-0 last month. Needless to say, the road side is heavily favored here.
Chelsea at Southampton FYIs
Kickoff: Sat Feb 20, 12:30 GMT, St. Mary’s Stadium
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go here
Odds: Southampton win +375, Chelsea win -139, Draw is +270
PL Form Guide: Southampton LLLLL Chelsea WWWWD
PL Position: Southampton 13th, 29 points Chelsea 4th, 42 points
Team News for Both Sides
For Chelsea, the primary fitness concern is centre forward Tammy Abraham who was subbed off in the win over the Magpies after just 20 minutes. According to a report in the Telegraph, Abraham didn’t suffer any significant ligament damage, and his time on the sidelines is not expected to be long.
His status for this match though is very much up in the air. Elsewhere Kai Havertz has been struggling with a minor injury that he suffered in training last week. It remains to be seen if central defender Thiago Silva will be fit for this road trip, but Tuchel did say prior to the Newcastle win that this match was the target return date. He’s missed the past three matches with a muscular issue.
Switching to Southampton now, things look set to get even worse as superb right back Kyle Walker-Peters got injured in the loss to Wolves. He’ll join the others out of action for this one- long term injury absentees Theo Walcott, Ibrahima Diallo, Will Smallbone and Michael Obafemi.
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Southampton 0
Blues are dominant in the back, and solid in the middle of the park, but they still need to get their attack clicking at some point.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.