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Southampton v Chelsea
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Kick Off: Wednesday 4th December at 19:30
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Competition: Premier League
Bottom side Southampton take on a high-flying Chelsea side who will look to build on their 6-game unbeaten record across all competitions with the most recent step in the right direction coming in a 3-0 win against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.
Pressure is continuing to mount on Russell Martin who faces a tough task against Enzo Maresca’s side with key players missing for the Saints due to injury and suspension.
⭐ Southampton v Chelsea Forest Best Bets
In what looks on paper to be a one-sided contest, the card market stands out for this game with the top 2 sides in the Premier League for cautions going head to head.
Chelsea have received 47 yellow cards across their 13 Premier League games this season (3.62 per game). No side has received more yellow cards than Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea side who struggle to avoid ending up in the referee’s notebook.
Southampton are just behind the West London side having collected 44 yellow cards across their 13 Premier League games this season (3.38 per game). They’ve struggled to contain their frustration in just winning 1 Premier League fixture this campaign. It’s also worth noting that Dibling, Harwood-Bellis and Downes are all suspended for this fixture due to accumulating too many cautions.
🟢 Southampton v Chelsea #WhatOddsPaddy Tip
Chelsea have made a great start to the season, which sees them level with Arsenal on nearly every metric with just 2 losses from their 13 games which came against Manchester City and Arsenal.
They’ve scored 26 goals in the Premier League this season (2.0 per game) and should be confident to add to this against a Saints side that have conceded 11 goals across their 6 home games this season, only winning 1 of these.
Chelsea are currently averaging 5.85 corners per game in the Premier League this season, this number stays pretty consistent at 5.83 when looking at their 6 away games this season. Southampton are conceding 7.15 corners per game in the Premier League, a number which rises to 8.17 when looking at their home games.
Southampton have collected 44 cards across their 13 Premier League games this season (3.38 per game). They will struggle to live with the quality, speed and movement of this Chelsea side which should see plenty of fouls in the game and the cards begin to rack up for Russell Martin’s side.
👕 Southampton v Chelsea Predicted XI
🔍 Southampton v Chelsea Players to Watch
🔵 Enzo Fernandez
Enzo Fernandez’s performances in a Chelsea shirt have been steadily improving with the midfielder providing 3 goal contributions in his 2 games since the international break including scoring in each of Chelsea’s games against Leicester and Aston Villa.
It’s been a struggle to find a spot for him in an already talented midfield with Caicedo and Lavia, but Enzo Maresca has used him in a more advanced position alongside Cole Palmer in recent weeks which has seen his shot volume increase.
He’s currently averaging 0.46 shots on target per 90 but expect this to increase if he continues in a more advanced position.
🔵 Nicolas Jackson
Nicolas Jackson has committed 13 fouls across his 13 Premier League appearances this season (1.13 per 90). The striker has been in excellent form this season registering 11 goal contributions across his 13 appearances whilst still keeping his energy and ability to press sides effectively.
Southampton will continue to persist with playing out from the back regardless of the opposition, Chelsea will be aware of this and should look for triggers to win the ball high up the pitch resulting in situations where Jackson may be too overeager in his challenge.
He committed a foul in just 20 seconds in Chelsea’s win over Aston Villa last time out.
🔴 Mateus Fernandes
Despite Southampton’s poor performances in the Premier League this season, there have been some players who have made an impression. Tyler Dibling is the most notable with some excellent performances so far but with the 18-year-old suspended for this fixture, Fernandes’ role becomes even more important.
He’s had 11 shots across his 12 Premier League appearances this season (1.11 per 90) and has had at least 1 effort in Southampton’s last 3 games against Brighton, Liverpool and Wolves.
📂 Southampton v Chelsea Cheat Sheet
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💻 Southampton v Chelsea Form and Tactics
Chelsea have been lining up in a 3-2-4-1 shape in possession under Enzo Maresca this season, the pivot in midfield against Aston Villa was Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo with the latter inverting from right back.
Southampton have adopted a 5-4-1 shape in recent weeks but have remained committed to building out from the back and playing an expansive brand of football.
The Saints are currently averaging 54.8% possession with only Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Man City having more of the ball in the Premier League this season.
Expect Chelsea to control the game, but Southampton should still carry an attacking threat, they caught Liverpool off guard on a few occasions on the break at St Mary’s recently and Chelsea have only kept 1 clean sheet in their last 6 Premier League matches.
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🏁 Southampton v Chelsea Ref Watch
- Referee: Tony Harrington
- He is currently averaging 3.57 yellow cards per game in the Premier League, he could find himself busy here with 2 of the most carded teams in the league facing off.
- He’s awarding 23.29 fouls per game and has officiated Southampton on 2 occasions this campaign, handing out 6 yellow cards to the Saints.
- He’s averaging 0.43 penalties per game, penalties may be worth keeping an eye on in this gam – only Wolves (5) have conceded more penalties in the Premier League this season than Chelsea (4).
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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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