Southampton vs Chelsea. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more

Southampton will host Chelsea in the English Premier League fifth-tour match at the St Mary’s Stadium. The fixture will take place on August 31, beginning at 00:15 IST.

Parimatchnews will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Southampton News & Current Form: 

Southampton have three points less than their future opponents after four starting rounds. However, 18th place in the table shall not mislead us, as in terms of play, the Saints look pretty good overall. 

An away game in the first round against Tottenham 1-4 ended in defeat – it was the only time when the score was actually on point, Antonio Conte’s side demolished the Red-Whites without a chance. 

Then, in the second round, Southampton shared points at home with Leeds United (2-2) – there they showed great character managing to overturn the game in the last 20 minutes. 

And thereafter, following an uptrend, they finally achieved victory. The Saints beat Leicester City 2-1 away sending them to the relegation zone.

This weekend, on the other hand, Hasenhüttl’s team were well worthy of not losing to nominal favourites Manchester United. The game was largely even, with a fair number of chances being created by the Saints in the final third of the match, however,  they failed to take advantage from any of 17 shots fired. The Red Devils survived. 

From what we have seen, Hasenhüttl prefer to play second best and rely on counterattacks. The Saints still don’t press like they did in their best times. Now, considering the difference in caliber, they’ll probably try to play in a similar fashion.

Over the summer, the Saints were regarded as almost a relegation contender. Their poor play in the spring stretch of last season, when they lost 10 of 13 games, is to blame. There have even been rumours of a quarrel between Hasenhüttl and his men, with the players not even greeting each other. Now, however, Southampton do not look like a team with any kind of internal conflicts.

The Saints have once again sensibly worked through the transfer window, spending almost €60m to reinforce their squad with the focus on young talents. There are no major losses as well, except for loanee Armando Broja who has returned to Chelsea. On paper, the newcomers should make the team stronger. Sekou Mara is a talented young prospect from Bordeaux. Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia are two bright youngsters from Man City. Just the sort of players Hasenhüttl likes to work with. They represent the kind of assets the team can capitalise on in the future. 

Armel Bella-Kotchap appears to be another flamboyant young centre-back with Bundesliga experience. The player has come in very handy against the backdrop of a definite crisis that has developed at this position. So far, he is winning the competition for the starting place.

And only Joe Aribo from Rangers appears to be an established, mature player, capable of producing results here and now. 

Nor can it be said that the Saints are an easy opponent for Chelsea. Yes, last season, the Blues won both games without much trouble, but there was also a game in the League Cup, where Southampton managed to reach the penalty shoot-out. In general, Chelsea have won only three of their last eight head-to-head games, although previously they had no problems with the Saints and had a seven-game winning streak.

Chelsea News & Current Form: 

Over the summer, there was much talk that Chelsea could finally challenge the top two English hegemons of recent years under fresh management of Todd Boehly. Four rounds is too short a distance to draw conclusions, but it is hard to believe in such an outcome now. The rebuilding at Chelsea is dragging on, the team is still raw and looks weak in some aspects. Even last season, the Blues started much more successfully.

The Pensioners have once again spent a whopping 201.5 million euros on transfers this summer, but this has not made them significantly stronger condidering departures. Nevertheless, the transfer campaign looks solid. All players have a good chance to be useful for the team, and some are already delivering.

A recent example is Raheem Sterling, who was shining in the match against Foxes to snatch important 3 points in diffucult situation. Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly have also been instrumental in action, with the Senegalese already experiencing a bunch of events: scored a goal against Tottenham and was red carded in another one. Fortunately for the match against the Saints, his suspension is over.

Four games are now behind, while the Aristocrats still have not managed to get a single convincing victory, most of them were razor-thin — not a champion-worthy start at all. They were suffering and risked losing three points in the final minutes against Everton of Frank Lampard, and yet they bottled them against Tottenham. The game against Leeds, in turn, was a complete misunderstanding and a disaster for the whole team, while against Leicester it was a miraculous rescue that also might not have happened. Aristocrats played a full hour in the minority. It is difficult to lay blame on the team in the circumstances, but, as Thomas Tuchel later admitted, his charges were lucky not to concede a second time in the closing stages. 

On the positive side, Wesley Fofana is about to join the team, Sterling scored his first goals in blue, Mateo Kovacic returns to the pitch and will apparently replace the suspended Gallagher.

So these is the situation in the camp of Londoners: no stability, just a rollercoaster ride. Of course, the coaching staff are not happy with such a state of affairs, they are going to rectify the situation. It will be all the more interesting to see what happens in the next rounds.

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Southampton form guide (all comp.): L-D-W-W-L

Chelsea form guide: W-D-L-W

Southampton vs Chelsea Head-To-Head Record: 

Last 2 seasons:

• April 2022: Saints 0-6 Chelsea;
• October 2021: Chelsea 1-1 Saints;
• October 2021: Chelsea 3-1 Saints;
• February 2021: Saints 1-1 Chelsea;
• October 2020: Chelsea 3-3 Saints.

Southampton vs Chelsea Predicted XI:

Southampton possible starting lineup: Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bella-Kotchap, Salisu, Djenepo; Ward-Prowse, Lavia; A.Armstrong, Aribo, Elyououssi; Adams.

Chelsea possible starting lineup: Mendy; Chalobah, Silva; Koulibaly; James, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Chilwell; Mount, Sterling; Havertz.

Statistical preview of the match Southampton vs Chelsea:

• The Saints have won just one match in their ten most recent meetings against Chelsea in the EPL. The last victory occurred three years ago.
• Southampton have just one win and one draw in their last eight home games in the EPL.
• Chelsea have won 6 of their 7 away EPL head-to-head games.
• Chelsea have scored in 6 of their last 7 EPL games at St Mary’s.
• The Blues have scored in 8 of their 10 last away matches.
• 6 of Southampton’s last 7 matches have seen a total over 2.5.

What has been said before the match:

Ralph Hasenhüttl, the Southampton gaffer:

“I think it seems that we are more comfortable with the back four. We have more players up front and it helps us, especially to create good chances. It’s always helpful when you have more quantity up front. Sure, you also need quality in moments but one player more gives you more chances. It’s the reason why we are not struggling to create chances at the moment and we are not struggling to defend. This is good to see.”

“The reverse gear is important against every team and against these top teams even more. We had this one moment against United and they punish you, which happens in the Premier League. But I still think we are in a good way.”

“We need to have the same effort, same performance and then hopefully a different result. [Chelsea] are a great team. We all know what quality they have.”

Despite losing the previous match, the Austrian approaches the match with a positive attitude

Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea gaffer:

‘Right now we could need some more players in some positions, but it’s very close to the end of the transfer window, and when the first of September finishes, I will be a happy coach no matter what happens. I will try to find solutions and not think what could have happened. The only thing that matters is reality.”

said the German regarding the fact that the team is suffering from a certain lack of manpower caused by injuries, suspensions and departures.

“On Saturday the only thing that mattered was to find a way to win the match, even from a disadvantage position. What will matter in Southampton is to find a way to win, step up individually and push the team from my side. This is what we will do no matter if players come or not.”

“I had the chance to watch the game of Southampton [against Manchester United] live and saw a very strong side. They had a huge turnaround at Leicester to win the game, and you could see they gained a lot of confidence from it. They conceded, but they had a lot of touches in the box, a lot of shots against Manchester United and were very mobile upfront.”

“What you can always expect in Southampton is a physical game, a running game, a high-intensity game. This is what it is. We need to recover well and be well prepared to repeat what we did last season.”

“I have a lot of respect for Ralph, and we have played against each other a lot of times, and he is a very nice person and a very good coach, and his fingerprints are all over this Southampton team every year.”

Thomas Tuchel muses on the upcoming match at the training session

Southampton vs Chelsea Prediction:

Although Chelsea are a head and shoulders above Southampton and are considered the favourites of the upcoming encounter. However, they have been showing unstable football and have some problems with their squad – without the essential N’Golo Kanté in the centre it looks like something is broken, while the newcomers have not fully integrated into the team and Conor Gallagher that was involved in all games of the season will not be able to help. 

Even with these issues, the Blues are still capable of taking control of the ball and imposing their football on any opponent, especially a team of Southampton’s caliber. The Saints, in turn, despite their relatively good start, have some playmaking problems and a lack of experienced and technical performers – which is reflected in their poor goalscoring. What’s more, the last two face-off duels ended up in favour of the London representatives.

Nevertheless, the Aristocrats are not yet at their optimal condition, the midfield with the void and the defence led by Edouard Mendy, who has already managed to make some productive mistakes at the start of the season, can spit out another surprise for their fans, despite cruel lessons like in the West Yorkshire. 

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Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Chelsea will not lose and the match total under 3.5  – Yes.