Southampton - Match Preview

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Chelsea face Southampton in the Premier League looking to keep the pressure on at the top of the table as the traditionally busy December period kicks in. Chelsea will play 9 games across 3 competitions during the month starting with the home game against high-flying Southampton on Sunday afternoon.

It has not been smooth sailing for the Blues' this season. In their last home game, West Brom came close to ending Jose Mourinho's 65-game unbeaten home record before an injury time Eden Hazard penalty saw Chelsea escape with a draw. More recently, Chelsea suffered a European loss to Basel when Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah jumped the Chelsea defence to slot home the winner late on in the game.

Mourinho's 60% win percentage in his second spell is the lowest he's enjoyed since he was at Leiria 11 years ago. While Chelsea have produced good performances on occasion this season, they've lacked the consistency that defined Mourinho's first spell in charge. It is only 3 months into the season and Jose is still experimenting with his lineup, evidenced by his selection of the defensive midfielder John Obi Mikel in place of the Brazilian attacking midfielder Willian in the 3-0 win over West Ham last weekend. The same line-up however, with Willian instead of Hazard, contrived to lose the game against Basel.

Date/Time: Sunday, 1 December 2013, 16:10 GMT, 11:10 EST, 00:10 HKT (Monday morning)

Venue: Stamford Bridge, London, UK

About the Opposition: Southampton have been this season's surprise package so far. This is their best ever start to a Premier League campaign. At this stage last season, they were 19th with 8 points. Their solid defence has played a big role in their emergence this season. Infact, they have the best defensive record in the League conceding just 7 goals. They have lost only 2 games all season with the loss to Arsenal last weekend ending an 8-game unbeaten run. The Saints sit just 2 points and 2 places behind Chelsea in the table and will be looking for another major scalp having already won at Anfield and drawn at Old Trafford this sesaon

Latest Meetings: Rickie Lambert inspired Southampton to a 2-1 win over Chelsea, the last time these two sides met although it's worth noting that Chelsea rested several players with the FA Cup quarter final against Manchester United to be played in 2 days. In the reverse fixture, Southampton came back from 2 goals down to take a deserved point from Stamford Bridge. These two sides also met in the FA Cup last season when Chelsea ran out comfortable winners in a 5-1 drubbing.

Recent Form

Chelsea: WLDWL

Southampton: DWDWL

Team News

Chelsea: Mourinho is expected to ring the changes after he blamed 'tiredness' for Chelsea's poor performance against Basel in midweek. Juan Mata and Andre Schurrle could be in contention to start this weekend.

Samuel Eto'o is ruled out for 2 weeks after being stretchered off against Basel while David Luiz is expected to miss out again with a knee problem. The good news is that Luiz is back in training and will most likely be ready for the midweek trip to Sunderland. Marco van Ginkel is the only other absentee.

Southampton: Former Blue Jack Cork is fit for Southampton after he missed the game against Arsenal with an ankle problem. Uruguayan midfielder Gaston Ramirez is also back in contention after missing that match due to a late return from international duty. Defender Dejan Lovren should also return after recovering from a sickness bug

There are concerns over the fitness of Luke Shaw who was forced off at half-time last week with a thigh injury

Possible Starting Lineups

Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic Cahill Terry Cole; Mikel Ramires; Oscar Schurrle Hazard; Torres

Southampton: Boruc; Clyne Lovren Fonte Fox; Wanyama Schneiderlein Ward-Prowse; Lallana Rodriguez; Lambert

Stats and Facts

- Southampton have scored six headed goals in the Barclays Premier League, the joint-most in the top flight along with Liverpool

- Pochettino has used the joint fewest players so far this season: 19

- Southampton have conceded just seven goals in their last 11 Premier League away matches

- Saints have won all six league matches this season in which they opened the scoring

- Chelsea have won 39 of the last 42 Barclays Premier League points on offer at Stamford Bridge

- Chelsea have scored eight goals in the final 15 minutes of matches, more than any other team in the top flight this season

- Chelsea are unbeaten in their Premier League matches immediately following a Champions League fixture this season (W3, D1)

Odds

Chelsea win: 11/20

Southampton win: 5/1

Draw: 29/10

Coverage

United Kingdom: Sky Sports 1

United States: NBC Sports Network

Australia: Fox Sports 1

Middle East: Al Jazeera Sport

India: Star Sports 4

Brazil: ESPN Brazil

If you happen to be busy and cannot catch the game live, follow TalkChelsea on Twitter as it would provide live match updates on the action

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