Chelsea at Southampton predicted XI: Rotated 4-3-3 at St Mary’s
Kai Havertz (No. 29) Right winger, Germany
Kai Havertz has gotten a lot of heat from Chelsea fans for his performances thus far. It’s quite a shame because, while he is asked to score goals as a center forward, he’s not playing poorly otherwise. The Blues aren’t creating many chances for the German, but he’s not sitting around and waiting for service like some other strikers have in the past. Instead, Havertz is continuing to make penetrating runs, drop deeper to try and involve himself and covering a lot of ground.
He looks to be getting more comfortable with his fellow forwards, which is what Tuchel is hoping for in the grand scheme of things. The goals may not be coming now, as long as Havertz, Mount and Sterling are developing positive relationships though, Chelsea will be just fine this year.
Raheem Sterling (No. 17) Center forward, England
He’s being dubbed “Raheem the Dream” for a reason. The experienced England international opened his account with the Blues in a huge way over the weekend, which is exactly why Todd Boehly emptied his wallet to bring him in. Sterling’s two goals propelled Chelsea over Leicester, despite going down to 10 men inside the opening half hour. He’s looked a lot more comfortable in the team with every passing game, which is a joy to watch. Sterling will look to build on his early season success against a Saints team that generally gives up a lot of goals to the Blues.
Christian Pulisic (No. 10) Left winger, United States
It seems as if Christian Pulisic is set to stay in west London this season. The American winger will get plenty of opportunities going forward seeing as Callum Hudson-Odoi has gone to Bayer Leverkusen for the season and Hakim Ziyech could be on his way out. Hopefully this chance will come against Southampton, who always seems to struggle with pacey Chelsea forwards. Pulisic should get an opportunity to start on his preferred left wing while also rotating into the fold with the Blues’ starting forwards to see what he’s capable of this campaign.
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