Southampton vs Chelsea Preview, Team News, Likely Line-ups & Predicted Score

Chelsea travel to the south coast to take on Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium in the 3rd round of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

The holders begin the defence of their crown against the Saints after lifting the FA Cup at Wembley last May with victory over Liverpool.

The Blues have a superb record in the FA Cup in recent years, winning the trophy four times in the last six seasons and will be hoping to continue that proud record this year starting at St Mary’s.

However, Southampton are on a decent run of late and held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at the weekend. Boss Nigel Adkins may feel his side meet the European champions at a good time having watched the Londoners crash to a shock 1-0 defeat at home to bottom side QPR on Sunday.

Team News

Chelsea will be without goalkeeper Petr Cech for the clash as he continues to recover from a groin injury, so Ross Turnbull will deputise between the sticks.

Rafa Benitez is likely to rotate his squad with the likes of Ryan Bertrand, Oscar and Victor Moses all featuring. Moses, along with fellow Nigerian team mate John Obi Mikel, are available for the game before they head off to the African Cup of Nations.

Frank Lampard may get a rest along with left back Ashley Cole. Captain John Terry and midfielder Oriol Romeu continue to be out with knee injuries but Yossi Benayoun may be in contention after returning to Stamford Bridge from a loan spell at West Ham.

New signing Demba Ba could feature but Benitez may decide to give him more time to get used to his team mates before playing him from the start.

Southampton will be without captain Adam Lallana once again as he continues to nurse a knee injury. Right-back Nathaniel Clyne is likely to play after recovering from injury and youngster James Ward-Prowse is expected to be given a rare start.

Likely Line-ups

Predicted Score

Chelsea were in excellent form before their shock loss to West London rivals QPR at the weekend and Rafa Benitez will be demanding an instant response from his players. We think the holders will safely navigate this tricky 3rd round encounter. Southampton 1-2 Chelsea.

What would your starting line-up be and whats your score prediction? Get involved in the comments section below.