The Premier League returns this weekend following the international break, with Chelsea hosting Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Seventh-place Chelsea and eleventh-place Southampton are separated by just a single point in the table, with both sides having won two of their opening four games.
Chelsea began with a 3-1 victory over Brighton, before Liverpool ended the Blues’ promising start. Andreas Christensen was sent off just before half-time, while Sadio Mane bagged a second-half brace.
Frank Lampard’s side came from 3-0 down to rescue a draw with West Brom on Matchday 3, before crushing Crystal Palace 4-0 last time out.
It’s fair to say that Chelsea have made a shaky start to the 2020/21 campaign, although their previous performance pointed towards an upturn in form.
Lampard can take confidence from the fact that his side have won six of their last nine home games by scoring over 1.5 goals.
But perhaps more importantly, Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in five of their previous six games at Stamford Bridge.
However, Southampton head into this game on a decent run. The south coast side have only lost two of their last 11 top-flight games.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men have also managed to net over 1.5 goals in four of their previous six Premier League outings.
Saints were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace on the opening day, before suffering a heavy 5-2 defeat at the hands of Tottenham.
Still, back-to-back clean-sheet wins over Burnley (1-0) and West Brom (2-0) swiftly put Southampton back on track.
Danny Ings scored a double against Spurs and also got on the scoresheet against Burnley. The clinical striker also netted for England last week, so Chelsea will be hoping to keep him quiet.
Head-to-head: Southampton ended an eight-game winless run against Chelsea by beating the Blues 2-0 in their most recent meeting back in December.
Before that, Chelsea had won seven and drawn one of their previous eight Premier League games against Saints.
It is also worth pointing out that four of the last seven top-flight matches between Chelsea and Southampton have produced over 2.5 goals.
Team news: Chelsea could without new goalkeeper Edouard Mendy after the goalkeeper picked up an injury on international duty. Ben Chilwell is also a doubt for the Blues.
As for Southampton, Stuart Armstrong is self-isolating, while Mohamed Salisu is struggling for fitness following an injury.
If recent games between these two sides are anything to go by, this is likely to be a high-scoring encounter with goals at both ends of the pitch.
Forebet predicts that Chelsea will score over 1.5 goals on their way to victory over Southampton on Saturday.