19′ Chalobah is Chelsea’s joint-top scorer at Stamford Bridge under Tuchel (two goals), despite only attempting two shots.
17′ There are some nervy moments at the back for Chelsea again as the Southampton forwards are still pressing them high upfield. Armstrong closes down Mendy this time before the hosts win a free-kick when Tella gets too close to Chalobah.
15′ It’s a poor corner into the box for Southampton which is cleared at the near post by Silva, but it falls to Walcott. He’s a long way out when he hits the shot on the volley, but his wild effort flies straight into the stands.
13′ Mendy’s clearance is gifted straight to Romeu, and he slides a good throughball into Armstrong. He can’t open up the space for a shot, so lays it off to Walcott, but his cross is put out for a corner off Rudiger.
11′ Kovacic switches play out to Azpilicueta on the right, and he curls a great ball into the box for Lukaku to run onto. He has Bednarek tight to him though and the defender blocks his first-time shot.
9′ None of the Southampton defenders are picking up Loftus-Cheek on the corner, and he rises high to flick it towards the far post.
T. Chalobah
Goal
9′ CHELSEA LEAD! It’s a good corner from Chilwell into the box that’s flicked on by Loftus-Cheek in the middle. Chalobah is unmarked at the far post and he stoops to get on the end of it, nodding his effort into the back of the net before McCarthy can react. 1-0 Chelsea!
7′ Tella nicks the ball off Werner on the halfway line and strides forward through the middle before running into Rudiger. He sets Hudson-Odoi on the counter and he tries to switch it out to Chilwell, but they’re not on the same wavelength and he gifts it back to Southampton.
5′ SAVE! Chelsea break quickly and Azpilicueta drills a low cross into the near post where Werner is waiting. He takes the shot first time, but McCarthy rushes off his line to smother it and send it looping over the bar.
4′ Azpilicueta plays the ball back to Mendy and Redmond is sprinting across to the keeper to close him down. He almost nicks it off him, but the keeper keeps a calm head to take it around him and clear his lines.
2′ Southampton have started brightly and are helped by some sloppiness at the back for Chelsea. Rudiger’s clearance goes straight to Tella, who slides it through to Walcott, and they win a free-kick when he’s tripped by Hudson-Odoi.
1′ Armstrong gets the game underway for Southampton!
The teams are out on the pitch now, with kick-off just moments away!
Three of Chelsea’s four Premier League defeats under Tuchel have come at home. The Blues haven’t lost consecutive league games at Stamford Bridge since December 2019, the second of which came against Southampton.
Ralph Hasenhuttl makes just two changes from the side that lost to Wolves last time out. Walcott and Tella are both brought in, with Adams and Elyounoussi starting on the bench.
Tuchel makes five changes to the team that lost to Juventus on Wednesday, as he brings Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Chilwell and Werner into the side. Christensen, Jorginho, Alonso, Ziyech and Havertz drop to the bench, where Mount is also named after recovering from an injury.
SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: Fraser Forster, Mohammed Elyounoussi, Romain Perraud, Stuart Armstrong, Shane Long, Lyanco, Che Adams, Moussa Djenepo, Ibrahima Diallo.
SOUTHAMPTON STARTING XI (4-4-2): Alex McCarthy; Valentino Livramento, Jan Bednarek, Mohammed Salisu, Kyle Walker-Peters; Theo Walcott, Oriol Romeu, James Ward-Prowse, Nathan Tella; Nathan Redmond, Adam Armstrong.
CHELSEA SUBS: Ross Barkley, Saul Niguez, Jorginho, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Mason Mount.
CHELSEA STARTING XI (3-5-2): Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic, Ben Chilwell; Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner.
After making a good start to the season, Chelsea have now lost their last two matches in all competitions, being seen off 1-0 by both Manchester City and Juventus, and Thomas Tuchel will be hoping to get back to winning ways today. As for Southampton, they’re still looking for their first win in the Premier League this season (D4 L2). They lost their last outing against Wolves, which ended a run of four draws for the club in the competition.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Premier League meeting between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge!
R. Loftus-Cheek
Assist