Chelsea predicted lineup vs Southampton - Premier League
Chelsea travel to the south coast to face Southampton in the upcoming midweek round of Premier League fixtures on Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel's side have already shipped six goals across their opening four games of the season. It took until their 14th Premier League match of the previous campaign to concede as many.
Here's the XI Tuchel may deploy to tighten up at the back going forward.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Southampton (3-4-1-2)
1. Chelsea Starting 11
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GK: Edouard Mendy - After a calamitous error against Leeds - so bad Tuchel refused to refer to it as anything other than an "own goal" - Mendy recovered to make a couple of crucial stops against Leicester.
CB: Reece James - Since the start of last season, James has recorded ten Premier League assists, a tally no Chelsea teammate can better.
CB: Thiago Silva - Described as "one of the best in the world to defend in the box" by his manager.
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly - The Senegal international's dismissal against Leeds was the second of three reds cards Chelsea employees have been shown in their last three matches, sandwiched between marching orders for Tuchel and Conor Gallagher.
RWB: Ruben Loftus-Cheek - A positive case of COVID-19 halted Loftus-Cheek's run in the side last December but the versatile midfielder is beginning to win back his spot with three straight starts.
CM: Mateo Kovacic - With N'Golo Kante injured and Gallagher suspended, Kovacic may be poised for his first Premier League start of the season.
CM: Jorginho - Last weekend's narrow 2-1 victory over Leicester was the first Premier League game in 2022 Jorginho has been involved in where Chelsea have had less than 50% possession.
LWB: Marc Cucurella - Jose Luis Mendilibar, Cucurella's coach at Eibar, admitted that the frizzy-haired fullback "doesn't register" on "all those things we measure with all those machines we have". However, Tuchel has come to the same conclusion as the Basque manager: “But he’s a footballer.”
AM: Mason Mount - A trip to St Mary's is always more meaningful for Mount given the south-coast-born midfielder is "Portsmouth through and through", by his own admission.
ST: Kai Havertz - More than half of Havertz's Premier League goals (seven of 12) have come against clubs which were ultimately relegated.
ST: Raheem Sterling - The £50m arrival opened his scoring account for Chelsea with his first Premier League goal from outside the box since January 2021.