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LIVE BLOG
90+4min: FULL TIME, Chelsea lose.
90+3min: McCarthy catches a cross and takes out Stephens at the same time. That should be just about that. Boufal and Azpi get into it for a brief second and earn yellows.
90+2min: Chelsea still too intricate, making it far too easy for Southampton to sit back and clear every ball.
90min: 4 minutes added on as Chelsea win a foul just outside the corner of the area. Mount delivers the inswinger straight on goal, and draws a save from McCarthy. Mount then takes the corner, which is punched clear by the goalkeeper.
88min: Decent passing and movement by Chelsea leads to a cutback from Kanté from the byline, but no one’s there to finish. Mount eventually settles for a weak left-footed shot from the top of the area, which rolls well wide.
86min: Rüdiger gives away a foul out wide, but Kepa catches Ward-Prowse’s dangerous delivery. Chelsea can’t build however as Southampton win the first ball.
84min: Pedro on for Willian, who does not look took enthused by the development. Romeu on for Armstrong for the visitors.
83min: Emerson’s latest corner — a gift from Southampton after yet another wayward Azpilicueta cross — finds Azpillicueta at the front post again, but his header is well over the bar.
81min: Pulisic tries to wiggle through, but is crowded out and there’s no call coming. Willian tries next, but runs into Ward-Prowse.
80min: Adams off, Boufal on for Southampton, who continue to look way too comfortable.
76min: Pulisic tries one from 20 yards. McCarthy across to push it wide for a corner. Emerson’s inswinger is cleared.
75min: Southampton come again and Redmond finds the cross from the left. Jorginho gets a foot to it and Kepa catches.
73min: GOAL, Redmond. Chelsea defense nowhere to be found as Southampton play through, and this time Redmond makes no mistake. 2-0, Southampton.
72min: Emerson goes for a jaunt through the center and plays in Abraham. He lays it back to Mount, but he can’t find space to shoot. He plays wide to Willian instead, who lays it back to Azpilicueta. His cross is cleared, as all the rest have been all game long.
70min: Willian wins a foul wide right. Emerson delivers into the mixer, the goalkeeper gets stuck in no-man’s land, but Rüdiger can’t get a clean head to it and Southampton survive. Meanwhile, goalscorer Obafemi’s replaced by Southampton’s leading scorer, Danny Ings.
67min: Pulisic on for Hudson-Odoi.
65min: Massive save by Kepa on Redmond after Southampton play through Chelsea’s midfield, starting with Jorginho missing his interception. Chelsea clear Ward-Prowse’s corner, then turn to attack with Kanté, Mount, and Willian, but Southampton recover quickly.
63min: Chelsea push in the middle, but Kanté’s throughball for Abraham doesn’t come off as the striker loses his footing.
61min: Kanté’s called for a foul on Adams, but it’s Tomori into the book for running over to yell at the referee for the (probably correct) call.
60min: Great crossfield passes from Rüdiger and Hudson-Odoi lead to Willian finding Azpilicueta with a great reverse ball, but his cutback from the byline does not find a blue shirt.
59min: Mount with a great through ball for Abraham, but Stephens does really well to cover. Willian takes the corner this time, but it’s cleared just ahead of Azpilicueta the near post.
57min: Jorginho into the book for stopping a counter with a tactical foul, after Mount had gotten crowded out.
56min: Chelsea find Kanté in space between the lines. He turns and plays wide to CHO, who takes a touch, but his shot is blocked. Shouts for handball, but no action from VAR. Chelsea retain possession, but Willian’s throughball for Azpilicueta is a bit too long.
54min: Another corner for Chelsea, which Emerson takes short. Willian plays it on to Hudson-Odoi, free at the top of the box. He goes for a top corner curler, but misses the target.
52min: Chelsea win a corner, which Emerson swings in. It’s over the head of everyone in the middle of the box and Southampton can clear.
49min: Redmond beats Rüdiger on the flank and is behind the defense. Fantastic touch from Tomori takes the cross away from Adams at the far post to prevent an easy goal.
46min: Mount on for Zouma as Chelsea go 4-2-3-1, and he’s immediately into the action, playing in Abraham. He turns his man and goes for power from a tight angle, but hits on the side netting. Already better!
HALF-TIME: Chelsea behind at home again. Improvement needed and needed quickly.
45+2min: Jorginho finds Abraham over the top and he plays it back to Hudson-Odoi. His cross looks good, but Saints clear ahead of the arriving Kanté.
43min: Hudson-Odoi hits the turf hard (arm, shoulders, neck, head) after winning a header and stays down behind the play. The referee eventually stops play and he gets checked out by the physios. Seems okay to continue.
40min: Better from CHO as he finds Azpilicueta wide, but his cross is over the head of Abraham, much to the striker’s frustration.
39min: Emerson wins a corner, which Willian takes. Azpi gets his head to it at the near post and draws a great save from McCarthy. Close!
38min: Chelsea pushing for a response and set up shop in the final third. But can’t find the final ball. Willian tries to set up CHO, but he’s again a step behind and Saints can clear.
35min: Hudson-Odoi tries to buy a foul in the middle after losing the ball again, no dice from Moss. Chelsea look in trouble and devoid of ideas at the moment.
31min: GOAL, Michael Obafemi. Hudson-Odoi loses the ball on the left flank, Tomori misses his interception, and Zouma is caught between two players as Obafemi takes a touch and curls a left-footer into the top corner. No chance for Kepa. Shambles. 1-0, Southampton.
30min: Bertrand gets a well-deserved yellow for timewasting. Moss then ignores a foul from behind on Willian, then correctly ignores Redmond trying to buy a foul off Azpilicueta in the area.
28min: Jorginho and Kanté combine well to get Chelsea moving, but Kanté can’t find Abraham and Southampton can clear. Chelsea push again, but CHO’s called for a cheap foul, which allows the visitors to waste some more time.
26min: Chelsea find some space in the middle and switch it out wide, but Azpilicueta slips on his cross and Southampton can clear.
25min: Solid passing in the middle almost leads to a chance, but the last flick does not come off. Chelsea then come up the left channel, but the ball hits Willian’s hand.
23min: Bertrand buys a foul off Rüdiger, level with the top of the area. Ward-Prowse whips in one of his usual deliveries, but Jorginho gets a head to it before Willian wins a foul to get Chelsea out.
21min: Chelsea work the ball left, then center, where Jorginho finds CHO at the top of the area. He gets the ball out of his feet and takes a left-footed shot, which deflects for a corner. Emerson takes the corner short and CHO puts in a cross towards the far post. Tomori gets his head to it, but there’s no power in the header and McCarthy catches easily.
19min: Abraham working hard to knock down a couple balls for teammates. But this time he’s called for a foul on Hojbjerg, and Southampton more than happy to take the sting out of the game even more.
16min: Chelsea holding the ball and passing it around in midfield, looking for an opening in the massed ranks of Saints. Willian finds a tiny bit of space with a stepover, but can’t get past the second man. Tomori’s cross is then cleared ahead of Abraham.
11min: Abraham drops deep to combine with Kanté and get Chelsea moving forward. Tammy then plays wide to Azpilicueta, but his pass through is too long for Hudson-Odoi, who was caught on his heels a bit.
10min: Chelsea go on the right this time, but Kanté’s mis-hits his cross and it’s easily cleared.
8min: Chelsea build on the left and work it across the top of the area. But Willian misses his flick and Southampton can counter into the space as both Jorginho and Kanté had pushed up. Rüdiger and Zouma do well to stop the advance.
7min: Willian tries to burst through the center after Kanté beats a man in the middle, but he’s squeezed by players from both sides and does not get a call after going down.
4min: A couple nice crossfield passes eventually lead to a cross from Azpilicueta. It’s a big one towards the far post, where Emerson and Willian get in each others’ way and Saints can come away with the ball. Jorginho quickly covers to stop the counter.
3min: Couple good, confident early interventions by Tomori, but a long ball for Abraham is cleared by the goalkeeper, quickly out of his box.
KICK-OFF: Southampton, in faded black and yellow get us started. Chelsea in all blue with white socks.
Happy Boxing Day! Hope everyone’s had a great Christmas or whatever you may or may not celebrate around this time of the year.
Let’s get back to football, shall we?
Looks like Lampard is sticking with the 3-4-3 after Sunday’s win.
UPDATE: Reece James is apparently injured.
Here we go!
Chelsea starting lineup (3-4-3):
Arrizabalaga | Tomori, Zouma, Rüdiger | Emerson, Jorginho, Kanté, Azpilicueta | Hudson-Odoi, Abraham, Willian
Substitutes from: Caballero, Christensen, Mount, Barkley, Pulisic, Pedro, Batshuayi
Southampton starting lineup (4-4-2):
McCarthy | Bertrand, Bednarek, Stephens, Cédric | Redmond, Højbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong | Obafemi, Adams
Substitutes from: Gunn, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Danso, Romeu, Boufal, Ings
Date / Time: Thursday, December 26, 2019, 15.00 GMT; 10am EST; 8:30pm IST
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Jon Moss
On TV: none (UK); NBCSN (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); Canal+ Sport 2, SuperSport 4 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video (UK) — this is £7.99/month if you don’t already have Prime; if you signed up for the 30-day free trial last time (Dec 4), you should still be good; NBC Sports Live (USA); HotStar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Be excellent to each other, and party one, dudes!