Southampton vs Chelsea preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Southampton vs Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday (kick-off 12.30pm).

Team news

Southampton will be without Kyle Walker-Peters for the visit of Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.

The right back limped off with a hamstring injury during last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Wolves after only recently returning to action from a similar issue. "Kyle Walker-Peters is out for a few weeks, maybe, and that definitely hurts us," acknowledged Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Walker-Peters isn't the only injury absentee for Southampton as Ibrahima Diallo and Theo Walcott are also unavailable.

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Chelsea will face Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday, with Tammy Abraham back in the running to feature in the Premier League clash.

Brazil defender Thiago Silva will miss Saturday's lunchtime kick-off clash despite being back in training as he continues his recovery from a thigh issue.

Kai Havertz is back in training but Christian Pulisic is a doubt with a calf problem.

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How to follow

Follow Southampton vs Chelsea in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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Jones knows prediction

Southampton have lost each of their last six Premier League games and the market has strongly sided with Thomas Tuchel's boys here, who have picked up 13 points from his first five Premier League games in charge.

Ralph Hasenhutt's team are running out of steam, for sure, but they remain capable of making life very difficult for any team that ventures onto their patch. In their four meetings at St Mary's with teams currently in the top six, they've beaten Liverpool, lost by just a single goal to Manchester City and Manchester United and drawn 0-0 with West Ham. A fast start will be absolutely crucial to their chances of getting a result - Southampton have scored the first goal in nine of their 11 home matches this season, so the 7/4 for them to score the first goal makes sense. I'll play the draw.

A betting angle to consider is Cesar Azpilicueta to pick up a booking - it's a bet I recommended with confidence against Newcastle but Allan Saint-Maximin never looked interested at testing the Spaniard one on one, avoiding being fouled when starting a Premier League game just for the third time since arriving in England.

Azpilicueta remains vulnerable to a team that like to play at a high tempo with the ball. He's been an ever-present for Tuchel in the Premier League on the right of a back three but is prone to a late challenge on a speedy opponent. Eberechi Eze, Ademola Lookman, Anwar El Ghazi and Son Heung-min have all got Azpilicueta booked this campaign. With Danny Ings, Nathan Redmond, Ryan Bertrand and Stuart Armstrong buzzing around him, another wild lunge surely awaits.

JONES KNOWS PREDICTS: 1-1

BETTING ANGLE: Cesar Azpilicueta to receive a card (4/1 with Sky Bet)

Opta stats

• Southampton have lost their last five home league games against Chelsea, their longest losing run against a specific opponent in their league history.
• Chelsea haven't failed to win either of their league meetings with Southampton in a season since 2014-15, when they drew 1-1 both home and away against them.
• Southampton have lost 24 Premier League games against Chelsea; only versus Manchester United (28) have they lost more in the competition.
• Chelsea have lost only two of their last 28 away Premier League games on the south coast (W21 D5 L2), with those defeats coming against Southampton in 2013 (1-2) and Bournemouth in 2019 (0-4).
• Southampton have lost each of their last six Premier League games, conceding 20 goals in the process (3.3 per game) - it's their longest losing run in the club's entire Football League history.
• Thomas Tuchel has picked up 13 points from his first five Premier League games in charge of Chelsea (W4 D1), level with José Mourinho's first five with the club and bettered only by Carlo Ancelotti and Maurizio Sarri (15 pts each). Five of the last 10 managers to go unbeaten in their first six Premier League games have been in charge of Chelsea (Sarri, Ancelotti, Scolari, Mourinho, Gullit).
• Chelsea have won both of their away Premier League games under Thomas Tuchel - the last Chelsea manager to win his first three away games in the competition was Carlo Ancelotti in 2009.
• Ralph Hasenhüttl has lost more Premier League home games than any other Southampton manager (W16 D7 L20). In fact, the Austrian has lost 47% of his home games in the competition with Saints - only Stuart Gray has lost a higher share with the club (71% - 5 of 7).
• Danny Ings has the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any Southampton player with 15+ goals in Premier League history, with the England striker averaging a goal every 161 minutes for the club in the competition.
• Chelsea's Timo Werner has been directly involved in more Premier League goals this season than any other player at the club (10 - five goals, five assists), while only Mason Mount (105) has had a hand in more shots for the Blues than the German in this season's competition (73 - 52 shots taken and 21 chances created).

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