Saturday lunch-time, in the early kick-off, Chelsea face Southampton in a Premier League fixture down on the south-coast.
After taking just 12 points, since 2017 turned into 2018, Chelsea’s chances of Champions League football have slipped away, the last 2 fixtures saw Chelsea grab just 1 point out of a possible 6, despite both fixtures being at Stamford Bridge.
A victory, against Southampton, would give the fragile confidence in the squad a welcome boost ahead of an FA Cup semi-final next weekend, also against Southampton.
Earlier today, Antonio Conte held his pre-match press conference ahead of the game. As has been the case, recently, Antonio took the opportunity to praise the opposition, remarking to those in attendance,
“Southampton have great quality in their squad. It’s a great surprise to see them in this position.
“I consider them a squad with great quality and talented players. For this reason, we must pay great attention because it won’t be easy playing against them.”
Yes, we could be in for a tough game and yes, perhaps Conte is just being polite when talking about the opposition, but, in our opinion, it’s all too negative.
As for the opposition boss, Mark Hughes, who finds his side in the precarious position of occupying the third relegation place, the former Chelsea striker was, in our opinion, a lot more positive when talking about his side, commenting to the journalists at his own pre-match press conference,
“I sense along with a rise in confidence, there’s a bit of frustration after the defeat at Arsenal which can only be good for us. The players want to put that right against Chelsea.”
It has all the promise of being an intriguing game, but would I confidently predict a Chelsea win?
Let’s just say, despite being 100% loyal to the Blue cause, I wouldn’t bet my mortgage on it, how about you?
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