The Blues head to the south coast this evening looking to keep pace in the Premier League title race, despite Enzo Maresca claiming his team are not a contender. The manager marked six months in the job yesterday and has taken Chelsea to joint-second in the table, level on points, goal difference, goal scored and every other metric with Arsenal.
Chelsea may be ahead of schedule, with Maresca saying on Tuesday that the Bles “in the next five to 10 years will be one of the teams - or the team - that is going to dominate English football”. More immediately, they will be confident of heading back to London tonight with another three points as they take on the worst team in the league.
Southampton could scarcely be in poorer shape as they are without up to 11 players this evening. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tyler Dibling and Flynn Downes are all suspended, while Lesley Ugochukwu cannot face his parent club. Third-choice goalkeeper Joe Lumley should play. Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from Malik Ouzia at St Mary’s.
Southampton vs Chelsea latest updates
Kick-off time: 7.30pm, St Mary's
How to watch: Amazon Prime
Southampton team news: Up to 11 ruled out
Live updates
1 minute ago
Southampton team news
Southampton could be without up to 11 first-team players this evening.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Tyler Dibling will all miss out through suspension after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season in Saints’ draw with Brighton.
This leaves Russell Martin with a selection headache as he’s also without Aaron Ramsdale, Alex McCarthy, Gavin Bazunu and Adam Lallana because of injury. Lesley Ugochukwu also cannot play against his parent club.
Furthermore, Ross Stewart, Paul Onuachu and Will Smallbone are doubtful. Jan Bednarek could return.
3 minutes ago
Chelsea team news
Chelsea will have a new centre-back partner for Levi Colwill tonight following an injury to Wesley Fofana which could sideline the defender for the rest of the year.
The choice would appear to come down to Benoit Badiashile, who replaced Fofana on Sunday but is, like Colwill, left-footed, or Tosin Adarabioyo. Maresca also has Axel Disasi as an option but the Frenchman did not even make the bench against Villa.
Elsewhere, Maresca must decide how much to rotate ahead of the weekend’s London derby against Tottenham. Noni Madueke will likely come back into the side after being benched against Villa.
Malo Gusto could also start, while Maresca could continue to be cautious with Romeo Lavia’s workload by benching the Belgian and pushing Moises Caicedo back into midfield.
Top-scorer Christopher Nkunku is also pushing for a first Premier League start since the opening day of the season, but may have to wait, with Nicolas Jackson in prolific form.
Reece James is still facing “weeks” out of action with a hamstring injury.
REUTERS
12 minutes ago
How to watch Southampton vs Chelsea
TV channel: The game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video. Coverage starts at 6.30pm GMT ahead of a 7.30pm GMT kick-off.
Live stream: The Amazon Prime website and app will offer subscribers a live stream.
Free highlights: Free highlights: In the UK, Match of the Day broadcasts on BBC One at 10.40pm GMT on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
17 minutes ago
Welcome
Good evening and welcome to the London Standard’s LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Southampton and Chelsea.
The Blues will be fairly confident of leaving the south coast tonight with all three points, as they take on the worst team in the league while enjoying their own best run of form of the season.
A win tonight and Arsenal dropping points later on against Manchester United - which is no guarantee - will leave him sitting pretty in second. But don’t tell Enzo Maresca that Chelsea are in a title race, he won’t believe you.
Kick-off is at 7.30pm. Stick with us.
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