Enzo Maresca’s red-hot Chelsea aim to continue their unbeaten run as they travel to table-topping Southampton on Wednesday night.
The Saints are bringing up the rear in the Premier League, but Russell Martin’s side have at least been competitive for much of the season so far. These champions Liverpool ran close in their previous home game and were unlucky not to claim all three points at Brighton last time out.
However, the hosts are set to be without their core for the visit of Chelsea.
Maresca blues made light work of Aston Villa on Sunday to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to six matches. Chelsea are level with Arsenal in third, but Maresca was he was quick to dismiss his team’s title aspirations.
Wednesday’s visitors have not tasted defeat in the league since going down at Anfield on October 20.
Behold 90 minutes guide to Wednesday night’s Premier League match.
Southampton vs Chelsea H2H Record (Last Five Matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Southampton |
Chelsea |
|---|---|
|
Brighton 1-1 Southampton – 29/11/24 |
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa – 01/12/24 |
|
Southampton 2-3 Liverpool – 24/11/24 |
Heidenheim 0-2 Chelsea – 28/11/24 |
|
Wolves 2-0 Southampton – 24/11/09 |
Leicester 1-2 Chelsea – 23/11/24 |
|
Southampton 1-0 Everton – 24/11/02 |
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal – 24/11/10 |
|
Southampton 3-2 Stoke – 29/10/24 |
Chelsea 8-0 Noah – 24/11/07 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Amazon Prime Video |
|
United States |
Peacock |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 2 Canada |
The Saints are currently in the midst of an availability crisis, a crisis exacerbated by the bookings of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Tyler Dibling against Brighton.
As a result, the trio is suspended for Wednesday’s game.
Lesley Ugochukwu is unable to face his parent club after joining Southampton on loan from the Blues in the summer. Will Smallbone and Adam Lallana are set to miss the game with thigh problems injurieswhile Joe Lumley is likely to replace Aaron Ramsdale after the 29-year-old got the nod against Brighton.
Southampton predicted line-up against Chelsea (5-4-1): Lumley? Sugawara, Walker-Peters, Wood, Stephens, Manning; Fraser, Aribo, Mateus Fernandes, Armstrong; Sagittarius.
Maresca has been a substitute for Chelsea’s midweek games this season, but the Italian will not make major changes to the side that beat Villa 3-0 on Sunday.
Joao Felix and Noni Madueke are candidates to come into Maresca’s squad having featured from the bench last time out.
Wesley Fofana suffered another injury setback over the weekend and has been set for at least a month on the sidelines as a result. Benoit Badiashile and Tosin Adarabioyo are the top contenders to partner Levi Colwill on Wednesday.
Chelsea predicted line-up against Southampton (4-2-3-1): Sánchez? Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia; Madueke, Palmer, Felix; Jackson.
He won’t want to admit it, but this is a write-off game for Russell Martin. The Saints are struggling enough as it is and will certainly be overwhelmed on Wednesday without Harwood-Bellis, Downes and Dibling in the side.
Chelsea they are heading towards firing on all cylinders with Maresca at the helm, and their gentle run to end the calendar year means the Blues must be determined to get into the title conversation – if only for a little while.
In short, it’s hard to imagine anything other than a midweek cruise for the Blues to the south coast.
