Last updated & checked: 10/08/2021
Right now, Southampton are in slightly better shape – and Chelsea in slightly worse – than they were at the end of the last Premier League season. Unfortunately for the home team, that still leaves them in a pretty unfavourable position heading into this contest.
They just about survived relegation last time around. And here they sit in the 14th position, thanks to a duo of wins against Brighton and Sheffield United and a respectable draw against Manchester United keeping their heads above water.
Chelsea have also had a bit of a mixed bag of a season thus far. Nonetheless, with victories over Norwich, Wolves and Brighton, things could certainly be worse for the Premier League heavyweights. Southampton have shown enough potential and Chelsea enough vulnerability to make this an interesting match.
Southampton vs Chelsea Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Chelsea
Interesting though it may be, we still have to pick one team as the likely winner and as predictable as it may be, we’re going to have to go with the former five-time league champion Chelsea. While not perfect, they’ve been better than Southampton so far this season without any exception we can think, meaning they are the inevitable choice. Nonetheless, we think it will be a tough match, with Southampton already proving their resilience against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United. With that in mind, our scoreline prediction is 2-1 in Chelsea’s favour.
Our recommended tip: Tammy Abraham scores first
If you’ve been following Chelsea recently, you should hardly need us to explain this to you. Tammy Abraham has been on fire thus far this season, even if he failed to score in their last two outings. He arrived with a duo of goals over Norwich and Sheffield United – both of which were the first goal of the game – and a hat-trick against Wolves. Most recently, he scored first in a 2-1 victory over Lille. So, the chances of him scoring early seem pretty strong. You can find good medium-risk 4/1 odds on this result at Betfair.
Previous matches
The good news for Southampton is that they managed to defy the odds – just as they did against Manchester United a little over a month ago – and walk away with a point in a 0-0 stalemate against Chelsea in January this year. This shows that a win for Chelsea is far from a sure thing. However, the seven straight victories before that do show that it remains quite likely. The last win for Southampton was in 2015 and breaks up Chelsea’s dominance in the fixture in a pattern which goes all the way back to the early 1990s.
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Players to watch: Nathan Redmond & Tammy Abraham
Although he hasn’t quite had the success in terms of goals this season that he quite honestly deserves – and looked unlucky to get on many occasions – there’s little doubt that Nathan Redmond is a constant thorn in the side of the opposition. He is often Southampton’s MVP, even when he doesn’t find his name on the scoreboard after the final whistle blows. We think that someone who is creating chances this often has to see some break through eventually.
Considering our recommended tip, we could hardly go with anyone else without contradicting ourselves. With that said, picking Abraham as our player to watch isn’t something we take lightly. Chelsea is a team full of stars and the fact that, in our opinion, he is the one that is shining the brightest really is a testament to just how great a player he is.