The Carabao Cup was a welcome reprieve from the poor league form for Southampton as they prevailed over Everton on penalties. It could get a lot harder this Sunday, however, when the Saints host Chelsea in the Premier League.
Chelsea managed a draw in their last league outing against Liverpool and picked up a narrow win over Vidi FC in the Europa League. Maurizio Sarri’s men are yet to lose a game in the Premier League but have drawn their last two league games against West Ham and Liverpool respectively.
Southampton’s last win in the league was more than a month ago when they beat Crystal Palace away from home. After a draw against Brighton, Mark Hughes’ side have suffered back to back defeats on the road and have slipped down the table, so home comfort will be a big boost this Sunday.
Mark Hughes made a few changes for the Cup tie a few days ago and we expect the first team players to return. Shane Long trained with the rest of the squad after recovering from a toe injury and is in contention to start the game. So, Hughes pretty much has a full squad to choose from.
Defence
Jannik Vestergaard and Wesley Hoedt are expected to return to the starting XI. Hughes went with a three at the back setup against Everton last time out, but we could see the more orthodox four at the back system against Chelsea.
Cedric Soares and Ryan Bertrand will have a tough outing as they’ll be up against the duo of Eden Hazard and Willian.
Alex McCarthy was also given a breather and should return to take his place in goal.
Midfield
Oriol Romeu is likely to be deployed in a five-man midfield to offer more protection to the defence. Chelsea will see a lot of the ball and Southampton should take a leaf out of West Ham’s book and try to hit the Blues on the break. Mario Lemina and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg should lineup alongside the former Chelsea midfielder.
Nathan Redmond will play a critical role this Sunday as his pace can trouble Azpilicueta on the left. James Ward-Prowse should start on the right cause he has a good delivery and can test the Chelsea centre-backs.
Attack
Danny Ings was on the score-sheet against Everton and should start up top once again. Ings is a man in form, and his movement in the final third could pose a few questions to the Chelsea defence.
Ings
Redmond – Hojbjerg- Lemina – Ward-Prowse
Romeu
Bertrand – Hoedt – Vestergaard – Soares
McCarthy
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