Chelsea will look to bounce back from back-to-back defeats as they take on a resilient Southampton side on Saturday.
After losing 1-0 to Manchester City last weekend, Chelsea produced a rather colourless display against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League. They fell to a 1-0 defeat as Federico Chiesa scored the only goal of the game for the Bianconeri, who have had a poor start to the season.
The Blues will be desperate to get back to winning ways. They were missing a handful of key players in the game against Juventus and Tuchel will fret about their fitness ahead of the weekend's game. Chelsea are currently sitting third in the table with 13 points after six games.
Meanwhile, Southampton are winless in their last five games in the Premier League. They earned hard-fought draws against Manchester United, West Ham United and Manchester City. However, the Saints fell to a 1-0 loss in their latest outing against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
They are yet to taste victory in the new Premier League season and have scored just four goals in six matches so far. Ralph Hassenhuttl's side have looked like a well-drilled unit but it has just not happened for them in the final third so far this term.
But they've had a decent record against Chelsea in recent times. Hassenhuttl will be hoping his team can further it on Saturday when they travel to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea vs Southampton Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Chelsea have failed to beat Southampton in all of their last three meetings. They have drawn twice and lost once.
- Southampton have fared decently away from home against Chelsea. They have earned 19 points in 22 away games against the Blues.
- Chelsea last lost two consecutive home games in 2019. Their second consecutive home loss in 2019 came against Southampton.
- Southampton have not scored a goal in any of their last three Premier League matches.
- Chelsea have let in just one goal from open play in the Premier League after six gameweeks.
Chelsea vs Southampton Prediction
Southampton have found it extremely difficult to score goals. To make matters worse, Saints' striker Armando Broja will miss out due to injury and Hassenhuttl's options upfront are limited.
Chelsea have plenty of injury concerns of their own. Christian Pulisic and Reece James are injured and expected to be sidelined for the game against Southampton. N'Golo Kante tested positive for the coronavirus and the midfielder is in isolation.
Thomas Tuchel will however be happy to welcome Mason Mount back to the starting lineup. The Blues have enough firepower in their ranks to rattle Southampton but they have lacked sharpness in attack in recent weeks.
Their defence is formidable and Southampton are likely to find no joy going forward given their bluntness in attack. Chelsea might just be able to do enough to get a win here.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Southampton
Chelsea vs Southampton Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Chelsea
Tip 2 - Romelu Lukaku to score at any time - YES
Tip 3 - Chelsea to keep a cleansheet - YES (Chelsea have kept four cleansheets in six Premier League games so far and have conceded just one goal from open play)
Tip 4 - Bold tip - Chelsea to win by a margin of 2 goals