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Football London
Football London
Sport
Oliver Harbord

Reece James, N'Golo Kante, Willian - Chelsea's predicted team against Southampton

In 11 Chelsea matches so far, Frank Lampard is yet to name the same starting XI for two matches in a row.

The Blues travel to Southampton on Sunday afternoon looking to make it four wins on the bounce, and Lampard is likely to name a different team once more.

However, he's unlikely to make wholesale changes to his side, with the potential of just one different player to the team who beat Lille 2-1 on Wednesday night.

One player who has struggled with injuries this season is N'Golo Kante, with the World Cup winner yet to play back-to-back matches in the Premier League.

Kante got through 90 minutes in the Champions League during the week, and Lampard is hoping to have him back on the pitch once more at St Mary's.

"That’s something we will have to watch over the next 24 or 48 hours to make sure he is still on a semi-recovery as they all are from the trip to Lille and the game," Lampard said.

"The fact he hasn’t played much obviously. In terms of the injury, he is fine. There is no fall out from that from the game. It is just making sure he is fit and ready and that’s a call for myself."

Southampton v Chelsea: Frank Lampard press conference

One change that Lampard might make is in the centre of defence, if he sticks to the 3-4-2-1 formation that he started with in France.

Andreas Christensen could come in for Kurt Zouma, which would mean that Reece James would make his first Premier League appearance in the right wing-back role.

Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount were all called up to the England senior side and are expected to get another start against the Saints.

Predicted Chelsea team: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Tomori; James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso; Willian, Abraham, Mount.

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