Thomas Tuchel will be hoping his Chelsea put in a bounce-back performance this weekend after consecutive home losses following the international break. The Blues have put in two below-par performances and have lost comfortably to Brentford and Real Madrid.
Their midweek clash with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu will undoubtedly be on Tuchel's mind this week, with Chelsea also out of the title picture with Liverpool and Manchester City battling for the top spot.
The international break appears to have halted the momentum of Tuchel's side, who were in fine form throughout February and March but now have it all to do to re-establish their confidence. The German coach is at a loss to explain the deficiencies in some aspects of Chelsea's April performances so far.
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Following the Champions League first leg, he said: "If we have the same talk five days ago, we will still speak about the same defensive performance. In five days, it is seven goals conceded, and we didn't change anything: not from the approach, line ups, or the system. I don't think there's a deeper reason for it. It is alarming. In two games, seven goals, but nothing has changed."
And ahead of Saturday's game, he has been handed a triple injury blow. Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech are doubts for Chelsea's clash with Southampton after missing training on Thursday, while Callum Hudson-Odoi has suffered a setback as he still tries to overcome his Achilles injury. The Chelsea star is set to be out for a matter of weeks rather than days.
Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell were absent from Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid on Tuesday, taking their place in the stands at Stamford Bridge instead. Ziyech and Lukaku were second-half introductions as the Blues tried to reduce the deficit following Karim Benzema's hat trick. The latter is suffering pain in his Achilles. Tuchel is hopeful that the duo will be back in training on Friday afternoon, but they require tests to confirm the place in contention for the trip to St Mary's.
Here are three ways Chelsea could line up this weekend.
Injury return
Tuchel indicated that Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech would be late fitness tests for the Southampton game. Both were introduced in the second-half and had chances to score to bring the tie back within reach for Chelsea.
Chelsea XI: Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Ziyech; Lukaku
One eye on Real Madrid
With the Blues out of the Premier League title picture, Tuchel will have his mind set on coming back from their 3-1 deficit to Real Madrid and could rest certain individuals. N'Golo Kante has played a lot of football lately and could be rested - along with Kai Havertz.
Chelsea XI: Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger, James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Ziyech, Lukaku
Back to 4-3-3
In the Blues' last Premier League game, Tuchel went with a 4-3-3. And although it didn't bring the result that he'd liked, versatility will be important moving forward in keeping opposing managers second-guessing for important games down the line.
Chelsea XI: Mendy, James, Silva, Rudiger, Alonso, Mount, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Ziyech, Havertz, Werner
