Chelsea vs Southampton teams: Gary Cahill starts as captain after overcoming illness in time to face Saints

CHELSEA can take a huge step towards regaining the Premier League title if they beat Southampton on Tuesday.

Antonio Conte’s side turned a tight FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham into a 4-2 win at Wembley as Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic put Spurs to bed.

Reuters

And now after two days’ rest the Blues will be in action under the lights once again as Claude Puel’s Saints come to town.

Keep up to date with ALL the CHELSEA news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary

Chelsea have a four-point lead over Spurs at the top of the table and will hope to be able to start with Hazard and Diego Costa who came off the bench in Saturday’s thriller.

What is the team news?

Gary Cahill starts after overcoming the illness which forced him to sit out the 4-2 win over Tottenham

But Charlie Austin has not made the Southampton squad after failing a late fitness test.

Where can I watch Chelsea vs Southampton?

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports 1, with coverage starting from 7.30pm on Tuesday, April 22. Kick off is at 7.45pm.

Alternatively, you can keep up to date with all the action and goals as they fly in on our live blog from 6.30pm.

Premier League form guide

CHELSEA: WLWWL

SOUTHAMPTON: LDWWL

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Your say

SunSport prediction

Chelsea have got the bit between their teeth again after a recent wobble and the Tottenham result will have given them confidence and a psychological advantage.

While Frenchman Puel has done a solid job for the Saints this season, the club have been inconsistent and we can’t see them pulling up any trees at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea 3 Southampton 1.

Fact me

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

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• 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).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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).
• Chelsea have gone 10 Premier League games without keeping a clean sheet for the first time since December 1996 (13 games).
• Eden Hazard has been involved in 14 goals in his last 17 Premier League appearances at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea (11 goals, three assists).