Both these teams desperately need a win. Since the World Cup, these two sides have just three wins between them and the last week hasn't been kind to either side.
Nathan Jones was dismissed after a dismal second half saw Southampton throw away all three points at home to 10-man Wolves. Ruben Selles is in interim charge – rumoured to be on the brink of a permanent hire – and completing the double over Chelsea after a 2-1 victory earlier this season could all but secure him the gig.
The Blues, meanwhile, haven't scored more than a single goal in any fixture since New Year – and following the disappointment of a controversy-tinged London derby against West Ham United, Graham Potter's side had the better xG against Borussia Dortmund in Germany, only to succumb to a 1-0 loss. This is a huge match for both sides: season-defining doesn't quite do it justice, either. A win could kickstart the rest of the campaign.
Graham Potter has named the following Chelsea starting 11: (4-2-3-1) Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta (captain), Kalidou Koulibaly, Benoit Badiashile, Ben Chilwell; Mate Kovacic, Enzo Fernandez; Noni Madueke, Joao Felix, Mason Mount; Wesley Fofana
Ruben Selles has selected the following Southampton starting 11 for his first match as caretaker boss: (4-2-3-1) Gavin Bazunu; Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Jan Bednarek, Romain Perraud; James Ward-Prowse (captain), Romeo Lavia; Mohamed Elyounoussi, Stuart Armstrong, Kamaldeen Sulemana; Paul Onuachu
Form
With just two wins since the resumption of the Premier League following the World Cup, Graham Potter is well aware of how much pressure there are on his shoulders right now. Chelsea have drawn the previous three league games and are having trouble putting the ball in the back of the net, with just two goals in the last six hours on the pitch.
Southampton, though, are in a far more worrying state. The Saints have picked up just three points since October 29 – a win against Everton – and have been rooted to the foot of the table since Boxing Day. A win here would be nice, if unexpected – the trip to Leeds United in five days time, meanwhile, feels like make-or-break. Four points from these two fixtures would be enough to count Southampton back in the fight.
Referee
David Coote will be the referee for Chelsea vs Southampton.
Stadium
Chelsea vs Southampton will be played at the 40,341-thousand-seater Stamford Bridge.
Kick-off and channel
Chelsea vs Southampton kick-off is at 3pm GMT on Saturday February 19 in the UK. The game is not being shown on UK TV.
In the US, kick-off time is 10am ET / 7am PT. The match will be shown onNBC in the US. See below for international broadcast options.
VPN guide
Use a VPN to watch Premier League football from outside your country
If you’re out of the country for a Premier League fixture, then you won't be able to watch on your domestic streaming service as usual. The broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address (boo!) and blocks you from watching it. You can use a VPN to get around that, though, without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN), assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and will let you watch. And all the info going between is entirely encrypted, anonymous and safe – and that's a result.
There are plenty of good-value options out there.For the Premier League, FourFourTwo currently recommends:
ExpressVPN including a 30-day, money-back guarantee FourFourTwo’s brainy office mates TechRadar love its super speedy connections, trustworthy security and the fact it works with Android, Apple, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PS5 and loads more. You also get a money-back guarantee, 24/7 support and it's currently available for a knockdown price. Go get it!
(Image credit: Future)
International Premier League TV rights
• UK: Sky Sports and BT Sport are the two main players once again, but Amazon also have a slice of the pie in 2022/23.
• USA: NBC Sports Group are the Premier League rights holders, with the Peacock Premium streaming platform showing even more than the 175 games it aired last season. If you pick up a fuboTV subscription for the games not on Peacock Premium, you'll be able to watch every game.
• Canada: The way to watch Premier League football in 2022/23 is fuboTV, which has exclusive rights to all the action.
• Australia: Optus Sport will screen every game of the Premier League season. Non-subscribers can access the action via a Fetch TV box and other friendly streaming devices.
• New Zealand: Sky Sport are serving up all 380 games – plus various highlights and magazine shows throughout the week, as well as the Champions League.
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Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
