England Premier League
Saturday 18th February 2023
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Match Preview:
Graham Potter just can’t seem to get a break at the moment and wins are coming to few and far between. In midweek in Chelsea’s knock out game in the Champions League they lost the 1st leg 1-0 against Borussia Dortmund although that is a game still seen as open as Chelsea will play the 2nd leg at home. But facts are facts and the Blues are not winning games.
In the Premier League Potter has overseen 4 games in a row where Chelsea have remained undefeated however 3 of those and those are the last 3 have ended in draws. The Blues have dropped down to 10th place and have 31 points and they recently witnessed Liverpool go past them. Even if they were to lose here which would feel like a disaster they wouldn’t drop a place but the club are 10 points shy of a top four finish as they try to achieve that objective which is seemingly slipping from them week by week. At home form has been better with two losses but there has been an inconsistency to the Blues form and they have won just 50% of their games at home.
Southampton’s big news of the week was the sacking of Nathan Jones after a dismal run. Jesse Marsch who had just been sacked by Leeds was expected to be unveiled as the new manager of the Saints at the weekend but talks have reportedly broken down because of the short length of the contract and it seems near impossible that the American will be the manager at the weekend, still in this game you never quite know. The Saints need all the help they can get as they are bottom of the league with 15 points and have lost their last 3 games. Their latest defeat came against Wolves losing 2-1 at home and it’s 15 defeats now from 22 games.
Team News:
Chelsea: Ben Chilwell will be assessed due to a knock and some fatigue he is expected to be fine. N’Golo Kante looks set to miss out again due to his lengthy hamstring injury. Edouard Mendy is still out with his hand injury, Christian Pulisic is 2-3 weeks away due to his knee. Raheem Sterling is 50/50 to return due to a knock and will be assessed.
Southampton: Alex McCarthy has some fitness issues and remains a doubt, Kyle Walker-Peters could return but will be assessed first. Valentino Livramento (knee) and Juan Larios (muscle) are out long term.
Chelsea vs Southampton Head to Head:
Last season Chelsea won this fixture 3-1.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Southampton won 2-1.
Chelsea have won 11 meetings from the last 17.
5 of the last six meetings has seen both teams to score.
Chelsea vs Southampton Prediction:
This is a huge game for Graham Potter. Recent form hasn’t been good enough but at the same time Chelsea have come up against tough opposition and they have also had key injuries. This game is different though as some players have returned from injury and of course the Blues spent huge in January and are at home facing the club in bottom place. Any dropped points will raise eyebrows and in fact Chelsea will be expected to put on a show and score a few goals too.
So the pressure is on Chelsea but we think they will come through with flying colours. Southampton are poor and will most probably not have a manager in place and there have been some positive signs from the Blues latest signings. Enzo Fernandez the big time signing looked impressive at times in midweek in the Champions League and he looks like one to keep an eye on. Chelsea are around 1.35 to win here so looking into different markets will be the way to go.
Chelsea vs Southampton Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (-1 Chelsea) at 1.61
Anytime goalscorer: Joao Felix at 2.75
Chelsea to score 2+ goals at 1.60
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