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#3 Chelsea goalkeeper rotation continues
Despite making a bevvy of attacking signings, a lot of the focus has been directed towards Chelsea's defensive end of the pitch. Frank Lampard has already played Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero and summer signing Edouard Mendy in the early stages of the season.
After Mendy made his Premier League debut for Chelsea against Crystal Palace, he suffered an injury in the international break which gave Kepa another opportunity to stake his claim for Chelsea’s goalkeeping spot.
However, the Spaniard did not have an encouraging outing in goal against Southampton, conceding thrice and being involved in a defensive mix-up that resulted in the first goal for the visitors.
Although Kepa cannot be directly blamed for any of the goals Southampton scored, it appears that his presence in goal does not inspire much confidence in the defenders playing ahead of him.
#4 Danny Ings continues his excellent run of form against Chelsea
While Harry Kane has established himself as one of the premier strikers in world football with his exploits for Tottenham Hotspur and England, there are a couple of other English strikers who have also caught the eye with their performances at club level.
Southampton’s Danny Ings and Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin have been rewarded with call-ups to the England side of late, with both scoring their first goals for the Three Lions in the recent international break.
The Saints frontman continued his good form in front of goal against Chelsea too as he bagged a vital goal for his side just before the half-time break with a confident finish that saw him round the keeper before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Ings, who is coming off a prolific 2019-20 season that saw him competing for the Golden Boot, has been in fine form in the new season as well. Southampton will be counting on his goals to power them to more positive results this season.
#5 Defensive issues are still disconcerting for Chelsea
Although Frank Lampard can take comfort from the fact that Werner and Havertz broke their Premier League ducks, the shaky showing from the members of his backline would be causing him some concern.
Against Southampton, the warning signs were on show during the visitors' first goal itself as Chelsea played themselves into trouble and turned over possession before Ings was played through on goal.
However, the worst was yet to come for Chelsea as the Southampton equaliser was the result of a calamitous error at the back for the Blues. Kurt Zouma made a hash of dealing with a pass upfield, leaving Kepa in an awkward position of challenging the goal-rushing Che Adams.
Adams powered through the Spaniard’s feeble challenge and squared the ball for Ings whose effort was blocked before Adams regained possession and slammed the ball high into an exposed net.
The Blues were very easy on the eye for most of the game, with Lampard’s vision for his side quite clear for all to see. However, if they are to challenge for top honours, Chelsea need to add some steel at the back and not allow their opponents to create chances at the rate that they are doing presently.
