Southampton vs. Chelsea – EPL, February 20, 2021

Southampton can’t seem to buy a win at the moment. Another defeat to Wolves at the weekend saw the Saints drop further down the table – and dreams of European qualification look dead and buried.

Chelsea, on the other hand, is enjoying a renewed burst of success thanks to its new head coach. Now Thomas Tuchel will need to figure out how to challenge at the very top of the Premier League.

The laws of probability suggest that Southampton must win a game again sometime soon. But the luck is definitely against it at the moment – and BetOnline’s odds do not seem overly harsh on the home side. Chelsea is looking very impressive and deserves its odds on pricing.

Southampton actually took the lead against Wolves on Sunday, but a controversial penalty awarded to the visitors just after the start of the second half completely changed the game. Wolves scored that and then looked the more likely to win, something it managed thanks to a wonder goal from Neto.

That made it six consecutive defeats for the Saints in a run of games that included that 9-0 humiliation at Old Trafford. Ralph Hasenhuttl now has the majority of his squad available, so he really needs to instill some confidence before Southampton falls even lower down the table.

But Chelsea up next is not the most ideal fixture to turn things around. Thomas Tuchel has done just that for his new club and brought in a renewed sense of direction that was sorely lacking under Frank Lampard’s stewardship. Even Timo Werner is scoring goals again – as he did against Newcastle on Monday.

To be fair, Werner is an excellent player – and goal scorer – if he is played in the correct position. Tuchel knows that and has given the German striker a new lease of life, alongside a number of other players. Tammy Abraham might miss out on this one after limping off injured against Newcastle. But Olivier Giroud is a more than able replacement.

I do think that Ralph Hasenhuttl is a good enough coach that he will make sure that Southampton is not involved in any kind of relegation battle this season. But it might take a little while before his team is regularly winning again. Chelsea is playing at a different level at the moment and should win another three points on Saturday.