Chelsea will be hoping to register a fourth straight win in all competitions when they travel to Southampton on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues have lost on only one of their 12 trips to St Mary's Stadium, winning on each of their last four visits and scoring 10 goals in the process.

Match preview

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Things did not start well for Chelsea this season, with a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United kicking off a run of only one win from their opening five games, but Frank Lampard's team spearheaded by academy graduates are starting to look like a force to be reckoned with.

Lampard chalked up his maiden Champions League win as a manager on Wednesday when his side beat Lille 2-1, with Tammy Abraham opening his European account for the club with his eighth goal of the season, form which has seen the striker rewarded with an England call-up.

Midfielder Mason Mount and defender Fikayo Tomori were also named in Gareth Southgate's squad this week, having established themselves in a Chelsea first team which for a long time seemed unreachable to their own youngsters, until Lampard's return to London.

With senior players such as Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and Willian, who has found form with two goals in two games, also playing key roles, the Blues look to have a good blend as they aim to secure a top-four finish which seemed unlikely during their transfer ban.

As it stands, seventh-place Chelsea are one of six teams separated by a single point in the top half of the table, although their defensive record of 13 goals conceded in seven matches is better only than newly-promoted Norwich City and rock-bottom Watford. The clean sheet against Brighton & Hove Albion in last weekend's 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge would have been a major positive for Lampard.

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Their hosts on Sunday are not exactly free scoring and present another good opportunity for Chelsea to work on their defensive resolve. Southampton had 51 minutes to break down 10-man Tottenham Hotspur last time out but ended up losing to Harry Kane's first-half winner.

Danny Ings scored his first league goal of the season in that 2-1 defeat, to add to a double in the EFL Cup success over Portsmouth. Che Adams, though, is still waiting for his maiden strike in Southampton colours, seven appearances since joining from Birmingham City.

Ralph Hasenhuttl's side have lost consecutive top-flight matches, following a promising run of seven points from a possible nine, and sit 14th in the table, which is two points and two places better off than where they were at this stage last year under Mark Hughes.

The Saints may be content with their solid, if not spectacular, start to the season, but one area of concern may be their home form. They have collected only one point from a possible nine at St Mary's so far and are winless in five home games going back to last term.

Southampton form: WDWLWL

Chelsea form: WLLWWW

Team News

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Lampard has a decision to make on Kante, who completed 90 minutes in midweek but has been in and out the team with a series of niggles, and may not be risked with quality options such as Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley in reserve.

Highly-rated defender Reece James was also a starter in France but Cesar Azpilicueta has enough credit in the bank not to be sweating his right-back slot just yet, while Andreas Christensen will also return in the middle of the back four.

Chelsea did operate with a back three in Europe but are likely to switch back to their regular formation, which should mean a recall for Pedro in the front three alongside Willian and Abraham, with Callum Hudson-Odoi not fit enough to be considered to start.

Hasenhuttl himself used a back three last time out, a late adjustment after Cedric Soares was injured in the warm-up, and Southampton's set up may depend on the fitness of the Portugal international who is poised to be assessed before kickoff.

James Ward-Prowse is the utility man that allows the Saints to switch systems with ease and may start at right wing-back if Cedric fails his fitness test. Moussa Djenepo is definitely sidelined so Sofiane Boufal may get another chance to impress behind the strikers.

Southampton possible starting lineup: Gunn; Bednarek, Vestergaard, Yoshida; Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Bertrand; Boufal; Redmond, Ings

Chelsea possible starting lineup: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Tomori, Alonso; Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount; Willian, Pedro, Abraham

We say: Southampton 1-2 Chelsea

Chelsea seem to have a lot of goals in their team at the moment and Southampton are rather less prolific. Neither are well versed in keeping clean sheets and the Londoners have the extra firepower to get them over the line, but only after a hard-fought battle.

Lampard's men will be full of confidence after recent results and they should have enough to keep rolling into the international break.

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