My first (and maybe last!) match thread, hope nobody minds. Chelsea's injury and suspension news: Marco van Ginkel suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his knee during the match at Swindon on 24 September. He is expected to be out for approximately six months. Ryan Bertrand has been unavailable in December due to a knee injury. Frank Lampard suffered a muscle injury in the game against Liverpool on 29 December and is expected to miss games. Branislav Ivanovic suffered a lateral ligament injury in the game against Liverpool on 29 December. David Luiz picked up his fifth yellow card and will miss the game. Southampton's injury and suspension news: Clyne, after coming on as a sub against Everton, is due to start. Schneiderlin will return from suspension. Wanyama, Osvaldo and Boruc are near to returns, but Wednesday's game will probably be too soon for them. Form: Southampton: LWLDDL Chelsea: WWDWLW Likely line-ups: Southampton: Davis, Clyne, Fonte, Lovren, Shaw, Cork, Schneiderlin, Rodriguez, Davis, Lallana, Lambert. Chelsea: Cech, Azpilcueta, Terry, Cahill, Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Eto'o. Referee: Martin Atkinson Assistants: Stuart Burt & John Flynn 4th Official: Roger East Prediction: 2-1 Chelsea. COYR!
49-1 Saints Rodriguez 10 Lambert 1 Davis 10 Davis 8 Lallana 10 Shaw 5 Chambers 2 Lovren 3 Hooiveld (og)
I'm going for 4-3 lambert x 2, Shaw and spider! For Chelsea Hoovield comes of the bench to score a hat-trick!
We should have a much more solid shape to us with Schneiderlin back. I think Chelsea's likely line up has a better balance to it then it often does though. Ramirez and Mikel as the DM's. Perfect game for Wanyama to get stuck into. Shame he's still out. Good chance for Clyne to get forward too (if he's back), has the pace to beat Cole. JRod will need to be at his best to help keep Azpilicueta quiet as an attacking threat. Interesting game. If we were full strength then I'd be really confident. As it stands, I'm hopeful that we can get at least something from this game.
Weather forecast is for strong winds and heavy rain, perhaps those that play best in wellies and sou westers may come up trumps, no doubt they will still be watering the pitch!
Looking at who is missing from both teams I would say that Chelsea have the bigger loss. Of course they can call on very strong back-up players. However, if we play as we know we can, a positive result is possible.
This is where Chelsea's strength in depth comes into it's own, they'll be able to field a strong and fresh team. 1-3 Chelsea.
Chelsea beat us the last time by going very direct, and if the weather is poor it's a safe bet that they will do so again. Whoever is playing the deeper central midfield role will need to be planted permanently in front of the back four...2v2s at the back with the added mayhem of the wind and rain could be nightmarish.
A lot will depend on the referee. If he books Ramires for his second or third cynical professional foul on Luke Shaw, so he cannot commit seven as he did at Stamford Bridge, we will create plenty of chances. Ramires must be the cleverest dirty player in the prem as he gets away with it time and time again. Just watch and see what happens Wednesday?
This is where the fans come in. Talking about the influence players & Managers can have on referees in other threads by getting in their faces or clever quotes in pressers, so can the crowds by helping to point out when fouls have occurred.
Chelsea do have a stronger squad to rotate and I wonder if they will be fresher and stronger than us. We didn't really create much at Stamford Bridge and I suspect Chelsea may start with two upfront so it will be difficult. I hope we get something but anything is a bonus for me.
