Mauricio Pochettino was regarded as huge success on the south coast. He occupied the Saints hot-seat for a season and a half before moving on to Spurs in 2014 where he has turned them from top-four contenders into title challengers. On Saturday Chelsea booked their place in next month’s FA Cup final at Wembley after a hard-fought win over Tottenham and while they may have swept aside their London rivals on the weekend, the race for the Premier League looks anything but straight-forward. Antonio Conte’s side face Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. The Saints’ have already had a Wembley appearance of their own this season, beaten finalists in the League Cup in February.
Despite all their attacking talent available at their disposal, for the first time in a decade Chelsea couldn’t even muster a single shot on target, in their defeat at Manchester United. The 2-0 loss at Old Trafford was their second in a fortnight following the shock home reversal to Crystal Palace at the start of the month and has left them looking nervously over their shoulder towards an approaching Spurs side who appeared to be in the distance not so long ago. Since their 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane at the start of the year, a match in which Spurs truly exposed Chelsea’s defensive frailties, the Blues have kept just 2 clean sheets in the league in 2017. The gap at the top of the table has been cut to just 4 points. They have gone on to concede in each of their last 10 league outings and their only clean sheets since January 22nd have come in the FA Cup.
Southampton, managed by former Lyon boss Claude Puel, are looking to become the latest team to capitalise on Chelsea’s backline woes. They have scored in each of their last 7 away fixtures in all competitions and could welcome back striker Charlie Austin who has not featured since December due to injury. Following their League Cup final heartbreak to Manchester United, they have won 3 of their subsequent 6 fixtures to lift them to 9th place on the table, a run which included defeats to Tottenham and Man City. Southampton have not had a victory in the league against top six opposition since May of last year, but have however, managed to knock both Arsenal and Liverpool out of the League Cup en route to the final.
The Saints won the corresponding fixture last season, coming from a goal down to run out 3-1 winners against the Blues in Jose Mourinho’s ill-fated campaign. Both Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle, goal-scorers that night at the Bridge, have since moved on, as has ‘The Special One’. Unrecognisable compared to last season, Antonio Conte has transformed Chelsea into a seemingly unstoppable force until now. Chelsea are eight places and 35 points ahead of this week’s opponents and have scored 28 goals more. There couldn’t be more to separate them this season, but on Tuesday when the sides meet as equals for the 99th time in their history, Southampton could yet play a hugely significant role in the title race and potentially hand the crown to their former king.