Southampton v Chelsea: Goals forecast for St Mary's

Southampton competitive in defeat

Southampton supremo Ralph Hasenhuttl said he was "proud" of his players' performance despite going down a narrow home defeat to Manchester United on Saturday afternoon. The Saints slipped to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of a moment of quality from Bruno Fernandes in the second-half, but it was a closely contested game which could have gone either way.

Saints lacked the cutting edge Fernandes provided for the visitors but there was still plenty to admire and certainly no sign of the lack of character or fractured team spirit of which manager Hasenhuttl and his players were accused after a poor start to the season.

Southampton, who were infuriated when handball was not given against McTominay, were competitive, committed and battled to the final whistle in a bid to rescue a point with their quartet of summer signings all impressing at St Mary's.

Speaking post-match, Hasenhuttl said: "Yes, I think the performance was very good. We had not one player in the team where I can say I'm not happy with his performance. We created a lot of chances and didn't give them a lot so I think on this part we matched them. We can be proud of what we have seen."

Chelsea survive Leicester onslaught

Raheem Sterling scored his first Chelsea goals to give the 10-man Blues a 2-1 victory over Leicester at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The £50m summer arrival's deflected effort looped into the top corner to put the hosts in front 67 seconds after the interval before doubling their lead from Reece James' inviting ball, much to the relief of Conor Gallagher.

Chelsea had been completely dominant until Gallagher was sent off before the half-hour mark for a second bookable offence in the first-half. That allowed Leicester back into the game and they had the ball in the net before the break, but Daniel Amartey's effort was ruled out. Harvey Barnes did grab a goal but only after the Foxes were two goals down.

Leicester posed plenty of problems late on, although Chelsea held on to secure top honours with Thomas Tuchel in the stands serving his one-match touchline suspension. The Blues boss made one change with Trevoh Chalobah replacing the banned Kalidou Koulibaly, however, the hosts did move away to a 4-2-2-2 system in place of the tried and tested 3-4-3.

Tuchel was critical of his team post-match, saying: "We lack belief and precision, so it's not good enough. We give chances away, we are sloppy in the coverage and bad in decision-making, so we have to stop and improve immediately. We are on it with the team, so I don't know why it happened again. We have to get better."

Blues unappeal as short-priced favourites

Southampton have succeeded just twice in their past 18 encounters with Chelsea in the Premier League (W2-D5-L11) and Saints were smashed 6-0 at St Mary's by the Blues in the duos most recent head-to-head clash. The hosts have picked up only two points from their last nine home dates with Chelsea (W0-D2-L7) dating back to the 2012/13 campaign.

Southampton 6.4011/2 have been relatively pleased with their start to the new season (W1-D1-L2) having twice battled back to earn points against Leeds and Leicester before giving Manchester United a tough workout at the weekend. The young Saints side have provided plenty of punch in forward areas and appear to be improving as a defensive force.

Chelsea 1.594/7 recovered from their woeful 3-0 loss at Leeds to get back on track against Leicester last time out, although the Blues still look a level below their best. Thomas Tuchel's team have largely underwhelmed since Christmas last year but have tended to produce their best work on the road under the German boss (W19-D6-L5).

Both sides can oblige at St Mary's

Over 2.5 Goals is a 1.684/6 shot on Tuesday night and has proven to be the correct play in six of Southampton and Chelsea's combined eight Premier League contests thus far. Five of those fixtures featured Both Teams To Score 1.794/5 winners, and a repeat holds plenty of appeal at the prices.

Southampton scored in seven of 10 home ties with top-half Premier League clubs last term, and had their opportunities to notch against Man Utd here on Saturday.

With Chelsea far from watertight right now, the Saints should fancy their chances. Yet, the Blues have fired just five blanks in 30 away days under Thomas Tuchel, making BTTS an eye-catcher.

Punters looking for a bigger-priced alternative can get involved in the Bet Builder where Both Teams To Score and Raheem Sterling to score anytime comes in at an attractive 4.08.