Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Chelsea vs Southampton in the Premier
League on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.
Team news
Reece James will miss Chelsea's Premier League clash with Southampton due to
continued ankle trouble.
Boss Thomas Tuchel also revealed the full-back would miss next week's World
Cup qualifiers with England, despite having been called up to Gareth
Southgate's squad this week.
Mason Mount is fit after a minor knock, but N'Golo Kante (self-isolation)
and Christian Pulisic (ankle) are also missing this weekend.
Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong is closing in on a return to fitness
and could even be in contention at Stamford Bridge.
The 29-year-old has yet to play this season due to a troublesome calf
injury. He was on the bench for Saints' opening-day defeat at Everton,
before the problem flared up once more.
The visitors will be without Armando Broja, who is ineligible under the
terms of his loan deal from Chelsea, while Jack Stephens (knee) is a
long-term absentee.
Jones Knows' prediction
When you haven't scored in three games and are looking for your first win of
the season, a trip to Stamford Bridge is certainly not your preferred
destination. Southampton looked a team out of ideas in the 1-0 home defeat
to Wolves, creating an expected goals figure of just 0.74 despite dominating
territorially for large parts. A season of struggle remains on the cards,
which offers hope to those that are on at 6/1 for their relegation.
Two defeats on the spin for Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea doesn't worry me. Their
chance creation figures would be a worry in isolation but you have to factor
in the level of opposition. Manchester City and a Leonardo Bonucci-led
Juventus defence are two of the toughest nuts to crack in European football.
Breaking down Southampton will be a much easier task.
A smart way to increase the skinny odds for a Chelsea win into an
odds-against play is to back Chelsea to win and under 3.5 goals in the match
at 11/10 with Sky Bet. Tuchel doesn't do thrashings. He likes his teams to
remain in control of matches in order to keep the opposition from creating
big chances. Just two of their overall 35 fixtures under Tuchel have
featured four or more goals and 25 of their 26 wins have seen less than 3.5
goals scored in the match.
SCORE PREDICTION: 2-0
Opta stats
Southampton have failed to score in five of their last eight league games,
including each of the last three in a row. Saints have had seven separate
runs of failing to score in 4+ consecutive Premier League games, most
recently a run of five in October 2018.
Southampton are one of five teams without a win so far in the Premier League
this season - only twice in their top-flight history have they failed to win
any of their first seven games to a campaign, doing so in 1996-97 and
1998-99.
Chelsea are over-performing their expected goals total more than any other
Premier League side this season, with the Blues scoring 12 goals compared to
an xG of 8.4 (3.6 difference). Southampton meanwhile are one of the more
under-performing sides in this regard (-3.1 - 4 goals, 7.1 xG).
No side has scored more first-half goals than Chelsea in the Premier League
this season (6, level with Liverpool). However, Southampton are one of just
two sides (along with Man City) yet to concede before half-time in the
competition this term, with all seven goals against them coming in the
second half.
Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has scored nine goals in his 12 Premier League
games against Southampton, against no side has he netted more in the
competition (also 9 vs West Ham).
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