Chelsea vs Southampton
Sunday 15th March, 13:30
League leaders Chelsea face top-four chasing Southampton on Sunday and with second placed Manchester City playing the day before, The Blues could find themselves under some pressure.
Eden Hazard remains the only player in the division to have surpassed the century mark for number of successful dribbles. Hazard has made 123 successful dribbles, averaging out at 4.6 per game. His closest challenger is Alexis Sanchez on 88, who averages 3.5 successful dribbles per game, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Nemanja Matic missed Chelsea’s last game against West Ham, but – fitness permitting – should make his Premier League return against Southampton. The imposing midfielder has made more tackles than any player in the Premier League this season, making 95 tackles according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne sits just one tackle behind Matic, albeit having played a game more than the Serb.
Diego Costa has been on a goal drought in the league recently, by his standard – but is still almost certain to start against Southampton on the weekend. The Spanish international’s stats still remain outstanding, scoring 17 goals in 21 games. Costa has put an impressive 68.7% of his shots on target, and has scored from 33.3% of them, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Costa is 31/10 to score first with 888sport.com.
Southampton’s form has been mixed of late, and they will be hoping they can reproduce some of the early season consistency that helped them in their rise to the summit of the table.
Jose Fonte has been in great form this season and has contributed to the Saints having the most clean-sheets in the division. Fonte has made 79 interceptions in the Premier League, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, which is the most of anyone in the entire top tier of English football.
Nathaniel Clyne is second only to Nemanja Matic for number of tackles, but also has completed the sixth most sprints in the Premier League. Clyne has sprinted 1591 times so far this season, averaging out at 61.2 sprints per game. The only defender in the division to have completed more sprints than Clyne is Everton’s Seamus Coleman.
Dusan Tadic has produced the fourth most assists in the Premier League this season having laid on eight goals for his teammates. The Serbian winger has also put in 39 successful crosses this season, which is the second highest in the division, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, only behind Burnley’s Kieran Trippier. Tadic is 13/1 to score first with 888sport.com.
Chelsea vs Southampton Possible Lineups:
Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis; Ramires, Matic; Cuadrado, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa
Southampton: Forster; Clyne, Fonte, Alderweireld, Bertrand; Wanyama, Schneiderlin, Djuricic, Elia, Mane; Pelle
Chelsea vs Southampton Match Facts:
- Chelsea have lost just one of their last 11 Barclays Premier League games against Southampton (W6 D4 L1).
- Shane Long has scored in two of his three Premier League appearances at Stamford Bridge.
- Chelsea are the only team in the four divisions of English football who have not lost a home match in the league this season.
- Chelsea are the only team in the Premier League to recover anything from a game where Southampton have taken the lead this season.
- The Blues have conceded just seven goals in their last 21 Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge, keeping 16 clean sheets in that run.
- Sadio Mané has scored in five of his last seven Premier League starts.
- Southampton are the only team not to concede a penalty in the Premier League this season
Facts compiled from Yahoosport
Chelsea vs Southampton Match Prediction
A 2-0 win for the home side.