Sunday Football Showdown – Chelsea FC vs Southampton
May 23, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic (2) and Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez (32) battle for the ball at Busch Stadium. Manchester City defeated Chelsea 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
Chelsea FC will host Southampton fresh off a very, very disappointing loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, a loss that knocks the Blues out of the competition. Chelsea however, are still in control of the Barclay’s Premier League title race with a 5 point gap over Manchester City.
More from The Pride of London
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
The Blues will hope to rebound against the Saints, who have fallen off from their high flying early start to the season, and secure another 3 points towards the Premier League title.
Chelsea FC supporters will also be hoping Burnley can pull off another remarkable result against Manchester City, and give the Blues even more of a cushion at the top of the league. The Blues are the favorites in the title race, and should have the skills to capture our first league title since 2009/10.
Chelsea FC boss Jose Mourinho has said that he and the players have an “unshakable belief” in themselves as the title race starts to head towards the home stretch.
Chelsea have just 11 games left, 6 at home and 5 away, and at the end the Blues must be crowned champions, or this season will have been a failure. For now the only team in our way is Southampton, and Chelsea should focus all their energy and anger from the PSG defeat into knocking off the Saints.
"‘We are a team that wants to win the Premier League and I think our answer is going to be good. I really believe that we are going to win.’- Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho"
Chelsea FC Team News
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said he will make a few changes to the lineup, not as punishment but for rotation of tired players following the 120 minute match against Paris St Germain. Who all these changes will impact won’t be readily known until the team sheet is announced, but it would not be surprising to see Oscar out of the team, or Gary Cahill replaced by Kurt Zouma. John Obi Mikel is still recovering from a knee injury.
Chelsea FC Predicted Starting XI
————————–Courtois—————————
—Ivanovic———–Terry——-Zouma———Azpilicueta
—————Fabregas————-Matic————–
—-Cuadrado————-Willian———-Hazard——-
—————————Costa————————
Predicted Result
Chelsea FC 2-1 Southampton
Chelsea should put its frustration at losing in Europe to bear against Southampton and batter the Saints. If Chelsea beat Southampton and Burnley can secure another dogged result against Manchester City, Blues supporters will be very happy indeed.
Next: Lessons Learned: Chelsea FC v PSG