Chelsea v Southampton: Team news, predictions & odds

The game kicks off at 1945 BST at Stamford Bridge, live on Sky Sports 1.

Chelsea v Southampton: Team news

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has recovered from gastroenteritis to return to training and could feature against Southampton on Tuesday.

Nathan Ake replaced Cahill and could continue in the starting XI if Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte opts not to risk his on-field captain, who took a full part in training on Sunday and Monday.

Forward Eden Hazard and striker Diego Costa appear likely to return to the side after starting last Saturday's FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham on the substitutes' bench.

Southampton will welcome Oriol Romeu back from a two-match suspension.

The Spanish midfielder missed Saints' last two games having picked up his 10th yellow card of the campaign during their 3-1 win over Crystal Palace, but he will return against his former club.

Matt Targett and Charlie Austin will return to training this week after recovering from respective hamstring and shoulder injuries but neither is available for the trip. Sam McQueen is doubtful after sustaining a groin injury while Virgil van Dijk (foot) and Alex McCarthy (hamstring) remain absent.

Teams

Chelsea (from): Courtois, Begovic, Fabregas, Zouma, Alonso, Kante, Hazard, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Pedro, Costa, Matic, Willian, Batshuayi, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Luiz, Eduardo, Aina, Ake.

Southampton (from): Forster, Taylor, Cedric, Martina, Pied, Yoshida, Stephens, Caceres, Bertrand, McQueen, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Davis, Clasie, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Boufal, Redmond, Rodriguez, Long, Gabbiadini.

Chelsea v Southampton: Manager quotes

Antonio Conte (Chelsea)

On Eden Hazard: "The first target for every great champion is to play for the team and to put your talent in the team. I don't think that a player like Messi is a selfish player.

"The best players in the world don't exist without the team.

"For me, it's sad when I listen to this, that one player must be more selfish to reach the top level. This is not my idea of football. I never will understand this. Never.

"In my team I don't want selfish players. I prefer to lose a game, than to have a selfish player.

"I don't want this, I can't accept this. I don't want my club to one day buy me a selfish player, never."

Asked if his team have struck a psychological blow by beating Spurs: "Honestly, I don't know. I think for us it was important this win. You reach the final in the FA Cup, a great competition. And for us it's great.

"It's great to know when after a week we finish the championship we have to play a final in the FA Cup.

"These are two different competitions and we have six games to go. It's important to start this rush (of fixtures) very well, to try to keep these four points (the lead)."

Claude Puel (Southampton)

On Oriol Romeu: "I think he's not far off Kante. He is very important for us. He recovers the ball so well and is a technical player.

"If we see the quality of his games since the beginning of the season, N'Golo Kante brings the same qualities as Oriol for us because he's very consistent and in every game he gives good performances, with consistency and quality.

"He's an important player for this team because he can do fantastic work to recover the ball and start the play.

"Without (Kante) for Chelsea it's difficult and the same with Romeu, it's difficult for us without him.

"We will see for the future, we are confident in him and, for me, he can look to getting in the selection with Spain, for example."

On Chelsea: "They are a fantastic team that want to win the title, but for us as well it is important to take points.

"I am confident with my players. They work very well in training. It's important to play our game and enjoy it.

"The best team in the Premier League is the one with the most consistency and, for the moment, that is Chelsea."

Chelsea v Southampton: Our prediction 

Andy Schooler writes...

Chelsea led the Premier League by 10 points with 10 games to play.

Ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Southampton, that lead is down to four and there are still six matches remaining for both the Blues and rivals Tottenham.

The need to steady the ship is strong, especially with a trip to Everton (beaten just once at Goodison this season) awaiting at the weekend.

Antonio Conte’s men took a big step towards doing that on Saturday by beating Tottenham 4-2 in the FA Cup semi-final but no points were on offer there and defeating Southampton, a side with little to play for, will be seen as paramount.

Conte himself suggested as much with his team selection at Wembley. Eden Hazard, one of the league’s form players, and Diego Costa were both benched, presumably with this match very much in mind.

Their replacements stepped up to the plate against Spurs, landing a blow which must also have caused some mental damage as they too prepare to return to league affairs – the North Londoners head to Crystal Palace on Wednesday and anything but a Chelsea win here will really open the door for them.

Chelsea  should prevail though. They are averaging more than 2.5 goals a game at home this season and come up against a side who are simply shipping too many goals.

In their last 11 matches, Saints have conceded five against Arsenal, three to West Ham, Manchester United, Watford and Manchester City and two v Spurs and Swansea.

They’ve still managed to win games in that run, indeed three of their five away Premier League wins this season have come in their last four road trips.

However, the quality West Brom, West Ham and Sunderland is not what they will be facing at Stamford Bridge.

Sitting ninth on 40 points, Southampton are not going down and neither will they be playing in Europe next season. Bar potential financial bonuses, it’s hard to see what the motivation is for the run-in and despite a decent record in this fixture since their return to the top flight (one win, two draws and one defeat) I can see no real reason to consider anything other than a home victory.

With Hazard flying right now, backing him to score in a home win is a bet which will tempt many.

The Belgian’s strike at Wembley at the weekend was his fourth goal in as many games. He’s 6/4 to score in a Chelsea success, although 7/5 for Hazard to score at any time (something he managed in the reverse fixture) is probably a better price given it takes any Southampton heroics out of the equation.

However, the bet I’m looking at here does not relate to the final score but rather the way the match is likely to be played out.

Southampton’s Oriol Romeu is back from suspension for this one and looks set to line up in his defensive midfield role against his former club.

With Chelsea likely to enjoy plenty of possession but also very adept at breaking on their opponents, the Spaniard is likely to have his work cut out. Certainly Southampton like to try to get their full-backs forward and it’s not difficult to see him being exposed at various points in the match.

Far from averse to a slide tackle, Romeu has already been booked 11 times this season and the 19/10 about him earning another caution looks worth taking.

Four of those 11 have come in his last five appearances and it’s also highly relevant that players in a similar role are being consistently booked against the Blues of late.

In Chelsea’s last seven games, Ander Herrera (Man Utd, twice), Joe Allen (Stoke), Luka Milivojevic (Palace), Fabian Delph (Man City) have all picked up yellow cards against Chelsea.

That’s not a run to put be put down to co-incidence, more the way that Chelsea go about their business with the livewire Hazard always receiving the ball in that area in front of an opposing defence, while defensive midfielders are often being asked to help deal with the threat of wing-back Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso.

Romeu can join that list in this game and help us to a decent profit.

Prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Southampton 

Chelsea v Southampton: Opta facts

o Chelsea have lost just one of their last seven Premier League games at Stamford Bridge against Saints (W3 D3 L1), though this was last time out (1-3 loss in October 2015).

o The Blues have scored in 15 of their 17 Premier League home games against Southampton, only failing to score in April 1995 (0-2 defeat) and December 2002 (0-0 draw).

o Diego Costa has been directly involved in a goal in each of his last three Premier League appearances against Southampton (two goals, one assist).

o Costa is now on a five-match run without a goal in the Premier League; his longest goalless streak in league competition since a six-game run between December 2012 and January 2013 in the Spanish Liga with Atlético de Madrid.

o After losing just one Premier League match in six months between October 2016 and March 2017 (W19 D2 L1), Chelsea have already lost two games in April (W2 D0 L2).

o The Blues haven’t lost three Premier League matches in the same month since October 2015 under Jose Mourinho – one of which was versus Southampton at Stamford Bridge.

o The only previous occasion that Antonio Conte has lost three top-flight league matches as a manager in the same month was in November 2009 for Atalanta.

o Southampton have won three of their last four Premier League away matches (W3 D0 L1) – more than they had in their previous 12 league games on the road in 2016-17 (W2 D3 L7).

o Chelsea have gone 10 Premier League games without keeping a clean sheet for the first time since December 1996 (13 games).

Chelsea v Southampton: Sky Bet odds

Chelsea are just 2/5 with Sky Bet to get their title charge back on track with a win, as Southampton go up against odds of 13/2 for the victory and 7/2 just to draw. The Blues are even shorter odds at 1/7 to be crowned champions with Tottenham 5/1 to catch them, while Claude Puel’s men are well odds-on for a top-half finish. Diego Costa (3/1) is followed by Eden Hazard (4/1) in the first goalscorer betting, while Manolo Gabbiadini is a 9/1 shot at the head of the Saints’ side of the market.

Click for Sky Bet's Chelsea v Southampton odds!