Southampton travel to league leaders Chelsea on Tuesday for a massive game for both sides.
Claude Puel’s men will need to take any points possible from this game, as a loss could take Saints down to the bottom half of the table.
However, Chelsea are just four points clear at the top after a few poor performances, most recently against Manchester United, where the Blues were beaten 2-0 by the Red Devils.
Tottenham are hot on Chelsea’s tail after winning all of their previous seven games and have closed the gap from eleven points to five, so Chelsea will need to win on Tuesday to regain their lengthy lead at the top.
So, let’s look back at what happened last time out at St. Mary’s in October, when a tough match saw the Blues come out on top after two sparks of class from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.
Chelsea opened the scoring early on as Hazard – a former student under Claude Puel at Lille – played a one-two with Victor Moses before squeezing a driven shot in between the legs of Fraser Forster to give the Blues an early lead.
Saints responded well after the goal, with Jose Fonte’s header going inches wide and Dusan Tadic’s long-range free-kick well-saved at the near post by keeper Thibaut Courtois.
Chelsea still showed their quality in the first-half, especially on the counter attack, after a few one-on-ones were saved by Fraser Forster just before the break.
Diego Costa scored ten minutes into the second-half after some poor defending from Cuco Martina saw the forward cut inside on the edge of the box and curl a powerful strike just out of reach of the diving Forster, giving the Blues a two-goal cushion in the match.
Saints had a few good chances to get back into the game, as Charlie Austin’s header went just over the crossbar, and the Southampton fans thought they had got a foothold back in the game when Austin slotted home from inside the penalty area, but the linesman flagged for offside, finishing off a frustrating afternoon for Claude Puel’s men at St. Mary’s.
