Chelsea were beaten 1-0 away at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday evening and already Graham Potter will have turned his attention to the weekend's match with Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues looked decent at times at Signal Iduna Park but such has been the case all season, they failed to make their pressure count. The visitors had 21 shots – with eight of them target – in west Germany and Potter felt his side were unfortunate not to find the back of the net.
"Overall we were pleased with the performance for big parts of the game," Potter told reporters. "It's complicated away from home in the Champions League, it's a hostile environment, against a team that is in a good moment.
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"So I thought it was an even first-half, managed the game quite well, had some chances to counter, and hit the bar. Second-half, apart from the one defensive action where we didn't do well enough, we were the dominant team and created some good chances.
"With a little bit of luck and final execution, we would have got the deserved goal. It is what it is, we just have to keep going. It's half-time, it's a tight game, and we'll look forward to Stamford Bridge."
Chelsea will be hoping to turn their fortunes around in front of goal on Saturday afternoon as Southampton come to west London. With the tight turnaround, however, Potter could be tempted to make a few changes to his side.
Reece James has now played 180 minutes in the last few days after playing full matches against West Ham and then Dortmund. The 23-year-old has struggled with injuries this season and Potter will be wary of overusing his star defender and aggravating his muscles to force another issue.
There could definitely be scope to rest James when Southampton come to town at the weekend. Unfortunately, Chelsea don't have too many options to replace the right-back, but Cesar Azpilicueta or Trevoh Chalobah could take his place in the team.
Meanwhile, Ben Chilwell looks to be a doubt for the match against the Saints. The England left-back limped off on 70 minutes in Germany and after the game Potter said the club will assess the injury over the next few days. Even if the injury – fingers crossed – isn't too serious, the likeliness of Chelsea risking Chilwell on Saturday is low.
Marc Cucurella has been in poor form recently, so the Spaniard could remain on the bench. Potter could be tempted to choose youngster Lewis Hall at left-back in Chilwell's place.
Benoit Badiashile is expected to come back into the team, perhaps in place of Kalidou Koulibaly. Badiashile was not selected for the Champions League squad so he has had a rest this week.
The Frenchman has been in tremendous form in recent games, ever since he broke into the first-team last month. He's formed quite the partnership with veteran Thiago Silva, so that could be something we see again against the Saints at the weekend.
Another player who could return to the XI is Mateo Kovacic. The Croatian has been struggling with fitness issues recently and was an unused substitute against Dortmund in the week, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek partnering Enzo Fernandez in the centre of midfield.
However, against Southampton, where Chelsea are expected to dominate the game, Potter could go for a more offensive system with Kovacic and Fernandez in a double pivot. It's something Chelsea supporters have been crying out for in recent weeks.
Another change could see Noni Madueke return to the team. The 20-year-old winger was not included in Chelsea's Champions League squad and after having a week-long rest, he could return to the side in place of Hakim Ziyech.
Let us know what changes – if any – you would make to Chelsea's XI for the trip of Southampton in the comments section below!
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