Chelsea Renew Title March against Southampton

Chelsea will be looking to put their Champions League heartache to the backs of their minds when they take on Southampton today.

It all looked so promising for the Blues on Wednesday night when they were 2-1 to the good onaggregateagainst10men,butDavidLuizandhis Paris Saint-Germain team-mates had other ideas.

Domestically, the Blues hold a five-point lead at the top of the table with one game in hand, and Jose Mourinho’s men are firm favourites to wrestle the title away from the Manchester stronghold.

Saints’ season has been derailed somewhat by a lack of goals in recent months, with just one solitary Sadio Mane strike to their name in their last six outings. However, with the best defensive record in the league, Saints will fancy their chances against the Blues, and could put a severe dent into Mourinho’s title hopes.

Chelsea boss Mourinho insists “everyone wants to play” and has Nemanja Matic available for domestic duty after a two-match suspension was served prior to Wednesday’s European exit. John Obi Mikel (knee) is the only definite injury absentee for the contest.

Meanwhile TobyAlderweireld is set to make his first appearance in nine weeks for Southampton. The Belgium defender has been out since picking up a hamstring complaint at Manchester United on January 11 and after been an unused substitute last time out, is likely to start at Stamford Bridge.

Jay Rodriguez (knee) and Emmanuel Mayuka (groin) remain absent, but Ronald Koeman has no fresh injury concerns.

Chelsea have lost just one of their last 11 Barclays Premier League games against Southampton (W6 D4 L1).

Chelsea are the only team in the four divisions of English football who have not lost a home match in the league this season. Chelsea are also the only team in the Premier League to recover anything from a game where Southampton have taken the lead this season.