After two tough away fixtures where Chelsea and Mourinho continued the historic trend of not winning, we now get to face off against Southampton, a team we failed to beat in both tries last season. A pair of 1-1 draws was all we managed against Ronald Koeman's men. Fortunately, their start to the season has been about as bad as ours, though obviously the expectations placed on the two teams differ widely.
Not that it matters. This is a game that we're not only expected to win, it's a game we need to win. I'm not sure I'm ready to contemplate what another home defeat, or even two more dropped points would entail. Three points is a must.
With that in mind, it's time to put on your thinking caps and pretend you're the manager. Outside of Thibaut Courtois, there are no known injuries currently. (Diego Costa is still suspended though.) I even added new man Marco Amelia, whose signing we probably will have completed by the 24-hour pre-match deadline to get him registered with the league. Though if there's one person who's more guaranteed to start than Branislav Ivanović, it's Asmir Begović.
But hey, this is your show. So choose wisely. To see how others are picking, you can check the live results by clicking here.