Chelsea FC – Southampton: Times, TV, Preview
The Blues welcome Southampton in a crunch Premier League affair.
Chelsea FC look to get their season back on track this afternoon as they play host to a difficult Southampton side. After a pair of disappointing results over the last week, Jose Mourinho’s men will (hopefully) be keen to run over the Saints in an impressive manner.
The Blues have been beyond terrible thus far this season. The first signs of the turmoil that would engulf the club appeared in the opening day fixture with Swansea City. While Chelsea drew 2-2, Mourinho losing his shirt at his medical staff and subsequently demoting them should have indicated the direction that the campaign would head.
Chelsea had appeared to have turned a corner when they won three consecutive games in relatively convincing fashion. However, this would merely be a charade as the Blues would go on to drop points against Newcastle United and Porto. While they managed to escape with a point from St James’ Park, they frankly did not deserve anything from either contest.
Consequently, the club are now staring into an abyss from which they won’t be able to reach the top four, let alone the Premier League crown.
Diego Costa will serve the third of his three match suspension today, which should mean either Radamel Falcao or Loic Remy returns after being left at home midweek. Mourinho did state that the players who did not travel to Portugal (Falcao, Remy, Oscar) have impressed him with their attitude so don’t be surprised if they all are recalled to the matchday squad.
Southampton, meanwhile, will arrive at Stamford Bridge on the back of an impressive 3-1 defeat of Swansea City and a 6-0 League Cup demolition of Championship outfit MK Dons.
Graziano Pelle has scored four league goals so far while Sadio Mane opened his Premier League account last weekend. Ryan Bertrand, a hero of Munich 2012, will return to Stamford Bridge and should take up his customary role at left-back.
Ronald Koeman’s side have found their feet after a somewhat shaky start to the season and will be hoping kick on and take advantage of an evidently vulnerable Chelsea outfit.
So with that in mind, here is everything that you need to know.
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Chelsea FC v Southampton, 2nd October 2015
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Time: 17:30 BST, 12:30 ET
TV: Sky Sports 1 (UK), NBC (US), check your country’s local listings here
Last season, the two clubs fought to a stalemate in both fixtures. The game at St Mary’s ended 1-1 despite a red card shown to Morgan Schneiderlin while the return fixture at Stamford Bridge also finished one apiece. Interestingly (to some people) both contests featured at least five minutes of stoppage time at the end of the second half.
What do you think the score will be? I’m going for another 1-1. Let us know in the comments below!
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