Prediction: Southampton vs Chelsea

Prediction: Away win

Best Odds: 17/20

Bookmaker: bet365

Desperation is something that every team feels at one time or another, especially in the Premier League. When it comes to Southampton and Chelsea, however, they’ve been feeling it a lot more lately as both sides attempt to salvage their poor seasons. The Saints continue to fight against dropping into the Championship, meanwhile, the Blues’ hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League are slim at best.

Southampton

The Saints have gone from being a comfortable top 10 team to relegation battlers in twelve months, and it’s all been a bit of a whirlwind. Their constant selling of their best players has finally caught up to them, and they’ll need to show some big improvements in order to catch up to Crystal Palace in 17th. They’ve got enough quality to get results, and thankfully, the game against Arsenal gave fans cause for hope.

Team News

Jack Stephens will be unavailable through suspension and Steven Davis is expected to miss out, although Lemina & Long should return.

Chelsea

Antonio Conte hasn’t had a good time of it at Stamford Bridge throughout this campaign, which is bizarre given how well things went last season. The parallels between these two opponents really are frightening in that regard, but on the pitch, if you strip everything else away, they should be beating Southampton with ease. They should have a ‘nothing to lose’ mentality at this stage, especially if they want to have any chance of challenging Tottenham for 4th.

Team News

David Luiz has been ruled out, but Ross Barkley could well return to the starting line-up.

Factors to Consider

• The Saints have lost their last four games against Chelsea.
• Only four teams have worse Premier League records in 2018 than the Blues.
• These two will play each other again next weekend at Wembley in an FA Cup semi-final.
• Chelsea are one goal away from their 1,700th Premier League goal.
• Southampton’s eight shots on target against Arsenal was their highest total for over a year.

Conclusion

This one really could go either way, which is a tad embarrassing if you’re a Chelsea fan. It seems as if both teams are throwing everything they’ve got into the FA Cup, despite the fact that they’ve still got something to play for in the league. We’ll give this one to Chelsea in a narrow 2-1 win, but it could easily be a draw.

Prediction: Away win

Best Odds: 17/20

Bookmaker: bet365