Tuesday 25 April 2017

CHELSEA VS SOUTHAMPTON: Will Chelsea bottle it?
by Dr Kenab Nwaso


A great weekend it must have been for the Chelsea family after beating Tottenham at wembley to book the first spot at the Emirates FA cup final and Ngolo Kante beating Eden Hazard and Zlatan Ibrahimovich to become PFA player of the year in only his second premier league season.
Where assists and goals might not be numerous, Ngolo Kante offered countless spirited performances which are all contributory to Chelsea being title favorites.
YES OF COURSE, TITLE FAVORITES. We are aware of the hot air from spurs nostrils raining on their necks anyway and British football doesn't give celebration breaks which is why Chelsea are faced with another tough test today against Southampton.

Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte's reign at Chelsea has been marked by dominant home performances and the team have even sometimes seemed impeccable on the bridge with Chelsea winning 13 games of 15 played at Stamford Bridge since Conte arrived. Looks like that would be 14 wins today?
 ANOTHER MOTM PERFORMANCE?

  
Southampton have won 6 and lost 8 of their games away from home this season and are currently 8th
position on the away table.
The last time Southampton won at Stamford bridge was in 2015 when the saints defeated Chelsea 1-3 following a resounding performance from Graziano Pelle and co.
January transfer window signing Manolo Gabbiadini would be the man the Chelsea back three would have to keep an eye on tonight as he has been a revelation since joining the saints after the new year, with many scintillating performances including a league cup final brace against Manchester United.
WE TOO OWN A KANTE?
Claude Puel on former Chelsea midfielder Romeu


"I think he's not far off Kante. He is very important for us. He recovers the ball so well and is a technical player. If we see the quality of his games since the beginning of the season, N'Golo Kante brings the same qualities as Oriol for us because he's very consistent and in every game he gives good performances, with consistency and quality."
 
MATCH PREDICTION:
Looks like another win for Chelsea but with the EPL anything is possible. Crystal palace were able to take all three points at Stamford bridge. Can Southampton do the same? Will the pressure from Tottenham be a factor? Can Chelsea prove everyone wrong and bottle this in front of their own fans?

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? LET US KNOW WITH YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS
 


FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @LETSTALKSOCCA
YOU CAN WRITE FOR US TOO. CONTACT US ON TWITTER


No comments:

Post a Comment

FROM MADRID TO CARDIFF - A JOURNEY SO CLOSE

Barely three hours to go before two giants face each other in the semifinals of Europe's biggest club competition. If there is a sa...