Chelsea Vs Southampton- Preview

Stamford Bridge -1^st December 2013

To start off few interesting facts which might decide the course of the match.

1) Mauricio Pochettino’s side have allowed their opponents fewer shots on target against them than any other team in the top division (35)

2)Southampton has scored six headed goals in the Premier League, the joint-most in the top flight along with Liverpool. 

3)Saints have conceded just seven goals in their last 11 Premier League away matches.

For me these are Chelsea’s exact problems right now and Southampton Strengths.

In the last match Southampton were solid defensively. An impressive 35 of 41 attempted tackles were successful, but there’s only one stat that matters, and they were unable to beat Szczesny.

Coming to Chelsea, we would win convincingly if we do address the following issues.

1) Bring Azpi to the Right and bench Ivanovich since he is not in good form.

2) Play Bertrand or “In Form” Cole instead of experimenting with Azpi (Even though he is playing great)

3) Mikel- Ramirez should pair in the midfield. In case Lampard plays he should play higher up the pitch and not in the defensive mid field.

4) And I Say this- MATA Factor should come this time. What mata Brings is Creativity. Playing against one of the best defense this season, Mata’s innovative play would bring Chelsea the much needed boost up front. I hope Mou thinks the same. Basically bring Mata, Oscar, Hazard in (Oscar can rest for this match); Schurrle would be a good choice if Torres is ready to go coz two of them match well.

Expected Line up-4-2-3-1            

Defense	Defensive Midfield	Attacking Midfield	Striker
Azpi-Cahill-Terry-Cole	Mikel-Ramirez	Schrrule-Mata-Willan/hazard	Fernando Torres

Those people who were, going ablaze by our win against west ham must know one thing. West ham is having one of their poorest runs under Big Sam and they are not a very strong defensive unit. So this match is a must win match for us. Because,

1) Top two teams, Arsenal and Liverpool has a series of tough matches coming and we should try to close in, so that at the “ONE Fall” we take advantage

2) Man City and United are right behind us and being Champions they know what it takes to be Champions.

On a Final Note, let’s look at player influence board last time this teams met and chart clearly shows, who had the most influence last time.

Looking forward to your Comments and Inputs.

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