Chelsea starting lineup against Southampton is out and the club’s new goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy was replaced by Kepa. The match which will take place this afternoon, October 17, at Stamford Bridge, 15:00, will see the return of Christian Pulisic and the possible first Premier League appearance of Hakim Ziyech.
Kepa who has become out of favor at the club due to his unnecessary errors had to come in for Edouard Mendy because the Senegalese got injured in training while on national assignment. The keeper who joined the club this summer from Stade Rennais for a transfer fee worth about €24 million, has made only one Premier League appearance so far against Crystal Palace which ended 4-0 in favor of Chelsea.
Another new signing, Hakim Ziyech might make his first Premier League appearance for Chelsea today against Southampton but from the bench. He was involved with Morocco national team during the FIFA international break. While Captain America, Christian Pulisic has staged a return to the club’s starting eleven after recovering from his two-months long knee injury.
The American soccer captain will start ahead of Callum Hudson-Odoi. Hence, Chelsea’s attack lineup for today’s game consists of Pulisic, Kai Havertz, and Timo Werner.
For the defense, Andreas Christensen will take the place of football veteran Thiago Silva who just returned to the club from the international break. Other defensive starters for Chelsea are Kurt Zouma, the club’s captain Azpilicueta, and Ben Chilwell who just recovered from a foot injury.
While Chelsea’s midfield will be mounted by the usual suspects N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mason Mount.
Chelsea starting lineup against Southampton: Kepa Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma, Ben Chilwell; N’Golo Kante, Jorginho; Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic; Timo Werner.
Your Chelsea team to take on Southampton! 💪#CHESOU pic.twitter.com/1XmVkHdK1f
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 17, 2020
Lampard view on Reece James might be the reason why he didn’t make it into Chelsea starting lineup
Reece James will not start in today’s Chelsea’s Premier League game against Southampton but the manager of Chelsea football club Frank Lampard is excited about the performance of the 20-year-old defender despite receiving a red card while playing for England against Denmark on October 14.
James was having a good debut with England national team until at the end of the match when he decided to confront the center-referee, Jesus Gil Manzano. The referee did not fail to give the youngster a straight red card for confronting him violently.
‘I did have a word with him about what happened at the end and the fact he got involved with the referee,’ Frank Lampard said.
‘We are all human, I have been there, done it, did it as a player, maybe even as a manager – none of us are saints.
‘It will be one for him to learn from – that when you have a performance at that level, playing for your country, you will get a lot of plaudits, so there was no need for him to get involved with the referee after.
‘It was a pretty simple conversation and something he will take on board. ‘Otherwise, his performance was very good but I expected that because I expect a lot from Reece.
‘He showed it when he came on against Belgium, how comfortable he was – it looked like he had been playing for a long time. The performance was really good.’
Reece James was shown a red card after the full-time whistle as England lost to Denmark in the #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/D9RTpZlMNZ
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 14, 2020
