Premier League: Southampton vs Chelsea preview

Chelsea have bad recent memories from St Mary's as they lost at Southampton last season. The two sides meet again on New Year's Day, with Chelsea hoping to continue their good run with a win. The Blues beat Liverpool on Sunday to add a third consecutive win to their streak and the result moved them in third place, just two points behind leaders Arsenal. Chelsea have beaten Southampton 3-1 at Stamford Bridge this season but it wasn't easy as the Blues had to fight back from 1-0 down. Captain John Terry sounds a note of caution before Wednesday's match: "It's going to be tough because they're very good at home and it proved a difficult game at Stamford Bridge when they scored pretty early. They are a good footballing side, very much like Liverpool, who try and play out from the back so we're expecting a tough game." Chelsea will be without Frank Lampard (muscular injury), Branislav Ivanovic (knee) and Marco van Ginkel (knee). David Luiz will also miss out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in Sunday's 2-1 win over Liverpool, but Ramires will make his return from a ban. Southampton have not won at home since November 9th when they beat Hull City 4-1. "It's clear that Chelsea are a top side, a great team," Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino said. "They have great, talented players. We learned a lot from that game at Chelsea. It was a very competitive game and it's going to be another competitive game against them this time around. There are many factors that happened during that game to balance the end result of the game. We know them well and we're more than aware that we're going to be facing a very tough team." Striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo is in doubt for the match but goalkeeper Artur Boruc (hand), midfielder Victor Wanyama (fractured leg) and striker Guly do Prado (knee) will surely be out. Midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin will return after missing Sunday's defeat at Everton through suspension. Here are the odds for Wednesday's match at Bet365: Southampton win - 14/5 Draw - 13/5 Chelsea win - 21/20