TEAM NEWS:
Chelsea:
After a shock defeat to Leicester in their final home match of 2018, Chelsea will be hoping to start the new year off right when they welcome struggling Southampton to Stamford Bridge. That anomalous result aside, the 'Blues' have been in solid form as of late, having won four of their last five matches in all competitions.
Maurizzio Sarri's side will look to stretch their lead over rivals Arsenal back to five points, as the 'Gunners' moved within two when they recovered their own form, by routing Fulham at home on Tuesday evening.
In terms of casualties for this upcoming fixture, the hosts may have to amend their regular starting XI, as the squad has hit somewhat of an injury crisis as of late. Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Olivier Giroud, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Danny Drinkwater are all either ruled out or doubtful to play a part against the 'Saints'; and so Alvaro Morata and Mateo Kovacic are likely to be handed a rare start.
Southampton:
Having failed to pick up any points from two consecutive home fixtures during the festive period; manager Ralph Hassenhuttl will hope that his struggling side can repeat their stunning performance against Arsenal, when they travel to battle another of the top six in Chelsea this week.
With the January transfer window officially being declared open; Southampton will look to bring in some new faces and reassess their league standings after their trip to the capital. However a result away from home would bring much needed confidence to the shell shocked 'Saints' dressing room.
Heading into this tough away encounter, captain Ryan Bertrand, defender Cedric Soares and young forward Micheal Obafemi are all doubts to feature, as they recover from respective minor injury complaints. Aside from this, boss Hassenhuttl has a full compliment of players to choose from.
PRE-MATCH MUSINGS...
Maurizzio Sarri on recent form, injuries and role changes:
"We were in full control, but we didn’t kill the match. For us it’s difficult to defend in the box in the last five minutes because we don’t have very good physical impact so we are in trouble."
"Yesterday in 10 minutes we had three injuries: Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek and Drinkwater. Now today Giroud, and we were already without Pedro and Hudson-Odoi, so now we are in trouble because in January we have to play every three days."
"(Kante) He has to think about the defence first of all. Then he is improving, especially in movements without the ball. His movement today was really very good and was done with the right timing. Now we have to work on Loftus-Cheek and on Barkley."
Ralph Hassenhuttl on tough schedules and Chelsea task:
"There’s a lot of work to do which is what we knew from the first moment and it has been a tough schedule over Christmas but there’s no alternative than to face these games and be as prepared as possible."
"Hopefully we make a surprising result in Chelsea as that would be fantastic.”
FORM GUIDE:
DID YOU KNOW?
In head to head competition, Chelsea hold a superior record to that of Southampton: the 'Blues' hold 45 wins to the 'Saints' 30.
Chelsea have won the last seven matches between the two sides.
Wednesdays' match will be the 104th competitive fixture between Chelsea and Southampton.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS:
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Willian, Morata, Hazard
Southampton: McCarthy; Yoshida, Stephens, Bednarek; Valery, Lemina, Romeu; Targett; Armstrong, Redmond, Ings