Chelsea FC lost to Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday night. Karim Adeyemi, in the second half, provided the only scoring strike.
Now comes a Premier League fixture against absolute bottom side Southampton FC, so the prospects of a rebound victory here are very high indeed.
Chelsea vs Southampton FC FYIs
Kick off: Sat Feb 18, 3pm, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea Preview Content: Team Newsย ย ย Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America:ย LINK
PL Position:ย Chelsea 10th, 7ptsย ย Southampton FC 20th, 15pts
Form Guide:ย Chelseaย DDDWLย Southampton FC LLLWL
Google Result Probability:ย Chelseaย 70%ย Southampton 11%ย Draw 19%
Summer Transfer Window Exodus
Before we get to the team news items, there were multiple reports this week of a major player exodus this summer. Christian Pulisic, 24, who remains out until about March with a knee injury, is among the multitude of players who could/will be heading out the exit door.
Not a big surprise, as it’s no secret that he wanted to leave in January (Manchester United and Newcastle United were both reported to be interested), but the American’s injury derailed that. According to an ESPN report, earlier this week, Chelsea have no plans to offer Capt. America a new contract.
Potentially joining Pulisic on this massive exodus are: Hakim Ziyech, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kalidou Koulibaly, Romelu Lukaku and Mateo Kovacic.
Todd Boehly has spent over $616 million on new players, 18 now in total, in the last two transfer windows since he took over the club. Obviously, with all those new players coming in, there just isn’t room for everybody in the squad.
Thus, a big time sale is inevitable.
Blues Injury Absentees
On the fitness front, NโGolo Kante (who also has an uncertain future at the club, given his unclear contract situation, is recovering from his hamstring injury, but this match will come far too soon for him to feature.
Elsewhere Armando Broja (knee), Edouard Mendy (finger) and Raheem Sterling (knee) remain sidelined.
Otherwise there is nothing new to report, from midweek, on the injury situation.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
Heโs written for numerous publications, including theย New York Daily News,ย Sports Illustratedย and theย Chicago Tribune.ย He regularly appears onย NTD Newsย andย WGN News Now.ย Follow the websiteย onย Twitterย andย Instagram.
