Southampton – Chelsea

The favourite will not be able to take three points away from Southampton

The only top-flight club in England will be playing at St Mary's in the fifth round of the Premier League. Despite the change of management and all the turmoil that befell Chelsea in the first half of 2022, the Blues are trying to stay afloat and win on the pitch. Success at Southampton would lift the team into the group of chasing the leading Arsenal, so the commitment of Thomas Tuchel's charges to win will be maximum. The bookmakers see the away side as favourites for the meeting. Southampton have already hosted a top-class team in the form of Manchester United at their home ground last weekend. Despite the fierce opposition and an imposing battle, they failed to take points away from the Red Devils (0-1). The defeat was the team's second of the season. In the first game, the Saints lost 1-4 to Tottenham. Otherwise, Southampton are one of the most predictable teams at the start of the season, losing to favourites and picking up points with the equal opponents. Of the players bought in the off-season, former Manchester City players Bazounou and Lavia have established themselves in the starting line-up. Mara and Aribo are also getting play time. Chelsea thoroughly cleaned up their squad in the off-season, letting go the highly-paid but ineffective Lukaku, Rüdiger, Christensen, Werner and Emerson. Cucurella, Sterling and Koulibaly have been added to the Blues' squad, for whom a total fee of around €140 million has been paid. Interestingly, Tuchel has "lifted" young Broy and Gallagher from Chelsea U21 into the starting line-up. The Blues started the current campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Everton, then dropped five points against Leeds (0-3) and Tottenham (2-2) before beating Leicester 2-1 in the last round thanks to Raheem Sterling's efforts. Southampton have very bad memories of Chelsea at the moment. The Saints conceded six unanswered goals in April this year. There is no doubt that Thomas Tuchel knows how to build tactics to defeat the opposition. That said, Southampton are no gift at home either, and their squad now looks well organised to pick up at least one point in the upcoming meeting.