Southampton vs Chelsea - preview

Southampton have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 11 Premier League games against Chelsea.

Chelsea have won four and lost just one of their seven Premier League trips to St Mary's.

There have been four goals netted inside the first 20 minutes in the last three Premier League meetings between Chelsea and Southampton.

Southampton have scored the most headed goals in the Barclays Premier League this season (11).

Diego Costa has scored seven goals in his last eight Premier League appearances.

Southampton have gone nine hours and 14 minutes since they last conceded a Premier League goal.

The Blues are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League matches (W4 D6).

Ronald Koeman has the best win percentage of any Southampton manager in Premier League history (45.3%).

Guus Hiddink has lost just one of 22 Premier League matches as boss of Chelsea (W14 D7 L1).

Hiddink lost just two of the nine Eredivisie games against the Koeman brothers (W3 D1 L1 vs Ronald, W2 D1 L1 vs Erwin).

Southampton v Chelsea: Team News, Match 

Preview & Likely Line-ups

Team News

Jay Rodriguez and Florian Gardos are back in training but are not fit enough to make the Southampton bench. Ronald Koeman has no new injury worries.

Chelsea have been given a massive boost by the return to action of John Terry. The former England captain injured his hamstring against Newcastle two weeks ago and consequently missed the Blues’ defeat to PSG and win over Manchester City.

Match Preview

When these two sides met earlier in the season it was one of the first signs that things weren’t right under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. Southampton’s 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge in late September saw the champions drop to 16th in the table and though results have improved they are still in the bottom half of the table.

Despite being separated by six positions, Guus Hiddink’s side are only seven points behind the Saints. With just one defeat in their 14 games under Hiddink, Chelsea will fancy their chances of returning from the south coast with a positive result.

The Blues are now unbeaten in their last 10 league games – by far their best run of the season. In recent weeks the renewed defensive solidity that Chelsea have shown under Hiddink has been complemented by an increased attacking threat. Five goals in each of their last two domestic games will serve as a warning to Southampton.

Yet the home side are in very good form themselves. 16 points from a possible 18 has propelled Koeman’s men up to sixth and a draw on Saturday would take them above fifth-placed Manchester United. Southampton fans are dreaming of a second successive season in Europe and with teams such as United, Liverpool and Chelsea faltering they have every chance of achieving that.

St. Mary’s is a tough place to go for even the very best and Chelsea’s unbeaten run surely has to come to an end sooner or later. That being said, Southampton’s form was so erratic before their recent run of victories, so we could easily see a return to that before the end of the season. Don’t be surprised if Chelsea edge this one while they fight to save their season.

Likely Line-Ups

SouthamptonForster; Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Targett; Clasie, Romeu; Davis, Ward-Prowse, Long; Austin

ChelseaCourtois; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Mikel; Willian, Pedro, Hazard; Costa

Key Stats

Chelsea’s 5-1 win over Newcastle two weeks ago was the first time they had scored more than three goals a game in the Premier League this season.

Southampton have won their last four home games.

If Saints avoid defeat they will match their longest unbeaten run of the season; encompassing seven games between September and November.