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Chelsea: Four things to look for as Blues host Southampton

By Nate Hofmann

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 01: Declan Rice of West Ham United and Christian Pulisic of Chelsea battle for the ball during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea FC at London Stadium on July 01, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 01: Declan Rice of West Ham United and Christian Pulisic of Chelsea battle for the ball during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea FC at London Stadium on July 01, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 19: Mason Mount of Chelsea looks on during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alastair Grant/Pool via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 19: Mason Mount of Chelsea looks on during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alastair Grant/Pool via Getty Images) /

2. Can Mason Mount quiet the trolls?

For whatever reason, Mason Mount has come under criticism lately for, well, it isn’t clear exactly. At this point, it’s clearly about more than just one missed penalty kick for some of the louder trolls out there. Perhaps it stems from the idea that Frank Lampard has somehow christened Mount as his spiritual successor, which, apart from playing a lot of minutes, there is little to no proof of. Or, maybe people just don’t like his little fauxhawk hairdo. It doesn’t make much sense.

Regardless, Mount just had himself an international break to be proud of, putting in a positive substitute appearance against Wales, scoring the winning goal against Belgium and playing a solid 73 minutes against Denmark while England was down a man after half an hour. It’s abundantly clear that Lampard and Gareth Southgate both rate Mount, and he’s been repaying their faith with interest so far this season. That positive momentum should carry over to Saturday.

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With N’Golo Kante’s fitness once again an issue, Mount is all but guaranteed to hold down a midfield role no matter who else Lampard decides to put on the field against Southampton. While he obviously presents a threat going forward as a scorer and playmaker, his impressive work rate should make him extremely useful in harrying James Ward-Prowse, Southampton’s one major creative force. That matchup of up-and-coming England internationals will likely dictate which side is on the front foot throughout the match. A dominant performance by Mount would be a great sign as Chelsea head into a crucial set of fixtures, and might go some way towards silencing the online trolls.

Given the attacking talent further upfield, it’s unlikely that Mount will find his name on the scoresheet, but it might be time to accept that a nominal attacking midfielder doesn’t necessarily have to fill up the stat sheets to be an effective player. That type of behind-the-scenes effort will be needed if Chelsea are to secure a positive result on Saturday.

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