Stuttering Chelsea beaten at home again

Chelsea 0 Southampton 2

Chelsea’s problematic home form continued as they suffered another shock defeat at Stamford Bridge.

An error by Callum Hudson-Odoi led to Michael Obafemi scoring for Southampton, whose victory was sealed by Nathan Redmond’s second-half goal. 

It was Chelsea’s fifth loss in their past seven Premier League games – and third defeat in their past four home league matches, with West Ham and Bournemouth having also recently won at the Bridge.

They had most of the possession but, after Hudson-Odoi gave the ball away, Southampton counter-attacked and Obafemi curled in a brilliant shot from near the edge of the penalty area. 

Blues boss Frank Lampard again opted for the 3-4-3 formation which worked so well in the recent win against Tottenham.

However, it was a different story this time and Lampard made a change at the interval, bringing on Mason Mount for Kurt Zouma and switching to a 4-2-3-1 system.

Chelsea put their opponents under sustained pressure in the second half but were unable to find an equaliser and were cut open by a slick Saints move for the second goal, scored with 17 minutes remaining.

There was some luck for Southampton involved too, with a desperate challenge by N’Golo Kante inadvertently laying the ball into the path of Redmond, who netted from close range.