EPL: Saints target Blues fall

Southampton vs. Chelsea
Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium
Kick off: 4pm

Southampton will look to make it seven matches unbeaten in the Premier League when they welcome Chelsea to St Mary’s on Saturday (today).
The Saints would climb above Manchester United into fifth in the table should they avoid defeat, while Chelsea could move into the top half for the first time since August.
European football appears to be an increasingly realistic prospect for Southampton again this season having seemingly begun to ebb away towards the end of 2015 and start of 2016.
The Saints suffered a spell of just one win and eight defeats in 10 matches in all competitions, a run of form that saw them slump as low as 13th in the Premier League table.
However, they have since turned things around completely and are now unbeaten in six matches, picking up a league-best 16 points from the last 18 on offer in the top flight.
Southampton as a team have not conceded a Premier League goal for nine hours and 14 minutes, while you have to go back to before Christmas for the last time their defence was breached in a home league game, keeping four clean sheets in four consecutive wins at St Mary’s and scoring 10 goals at the other end in the process.
While Southampton have had a fortnight off since their last competitive action, Chelsea have been fighting on all fronts and impressing along the way.
The Blues took on the daunting task of travelling to the Parc des Princes last Tuesday for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain and, while they lost 2-1 to the runaway Ligue 1 leaders, the performance gave cause for optimism.
The second leg of that tie does not take place until March 9, but John Obi Mikel’s away goal in the French capital puts Chelsea in a decent position when they welcome PSG back to Stamford Bridge.

Southampton possible starting lineup: Forster, Cedric, Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand, Davis, Clasie, Ward-Prowse, Mane, Long, Pelle.
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic, Baba Rahman, Fabregas, Mikel, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Costa.