James and Kante out, Alonso back – expected Chelsea line-up at Southampton

Chelsea will be looking to get back to winning ways when they face Southampton later today.

After the crushing home defeats against Brentford and Real Madrid, boss Thomas Tuchel will expect a positive reaction from his players – and may well make some changes.

N’Golo Kante struggled before being replaced at half-time against Real and looks likely to be left out at St Mary’s, with Mateo Kovacic joining Jorginho in midfield.


Andreas Christensen was also replaced at the break in midweek but has generally been solid in a back three along with Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger prior to the recent wobble, and Tuchel is likely to go with them against the Saints.

Reece James recently returned from injury and might well now be taken out of the starting line-up in order to carefully manage his comeback. That could see Marcos Alonso brought back on the left-hand side and Cesar Azpilicueta operate at right wing-back, where Callum Hudson-Odoi is not an option as he remains sidelined.

Hakim Ziyech has been struggling with a knock and is a doubt, as is Romelu Lukaku. Both players were due to be assessed ahead of the trip to the south coast.

Expected Chelsea team: Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Havertz, Pulisic.