Chelsea made it four straight wins in all competitions after a comfortable 4-1 victory against struggling Southampton at St Mary's.

Tammy Abraham scored his eighth league goal of the season with a delightful lob before Mason Mount added a second seven minutes later.

Danny Ings got one back for the hosts but N'Golo Kante's deflected strike, and a late strike from substitute Michy Batshuayi made sure of the points.

Callum Hudson-Odoi was handed his first Premier League start since returning from an Achilles injury while Christian Pulisic, after much speculation about his future, returned to the bench.

The hosts started brightly and nearly went ahead inside the first minute when Nathan Redmond fired just over from 20 yards.

Both sides looked nervy at the back early on and with so many defensive errors, it didn't take long for Chelsea to take advantage.

Hudson-Odoi floated a clever ball over the top to Abraham and with Gunn in no man's land, the 22-year-old improvised with a high lob which crossed the line before Maya Yoshida could clear, and the goal was eventually awarded by goal-line technology.

Seven minutes later, Chelsea doubled their lead thanks to more shoddy defending from Ralph Hasenhuttl's men.

Jan Bednarek's header was picked off by Jorginho, who played in Willian and his pass found Mount. The 20-year-old skipped past Yoshida all too easily and finished emphatically at the near post.

Mount should have got his second just minutes later after being teed up by Abraham but somehow dragged his shot wide when a third looked inevitable.

Southampton pulled one back out of nowhere when Yan Valery got between four Chelsea players, sent a low cross into the box and Kurt Zouma's clearance richocheted off Ings and into the net.

The crowd were buoyed by the prospect of their side chasing an equaliser but soon had their hopes squashed when Kante's effort deflected in off Hjojberg for Chelsea's third in a goal-laden first half.

The tempo died down in the second half as Southampton looked to limit the damage but Hudson-Odoi could - and should - have bagged his first of the season, only to see his strike turned away by Gunn.

Chelsea finally added a fourth in the 89th minute, when substitutes Christian Pulisic and Batshuayi combined well for the Belgian to slot home.

Chelsea were rarely troubled though as Lampard's side claimed a third straight away win to climb to fifth in the Premier League table.

Live Updates

Welcome to Standard Sport's LIVE coverage of the Premier League game between Southampton and Chelsea.

We will bring you the latest team news in the build-up to kick-off, with James Olley at St. Mary's.

Southampton team news Photo: Reuters Southampton will once again be without full-back Cedric Soares.

The Portugal international pulled out in the warm-up ahead of last weekend's loss at Tottenham and remains sidelined with a calf problem.

Forward Che Adams could return to Ralph Hasenhuttl's squad after being dropped, while back-up goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is available again following a calf problem. Winger Moussa Djenepo (hip) is still unavailable. Provisional squad: Gunn, Bednarek, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Boufal, Redmond, Ings, McCarthy, Danso, Valery, Stephens, Armstrong, Long, Obafemi, Adams. Chelsea team news Photo: PA Chelsea manager Frank Lampard will check on the fitness of N'Golo Kante ahead of kick-off.

The midfielder returned to the starting XI at Lille on Wednesday, after an ankle injury, and Lampard will now have to decide if he is fit enough to start back-to-back games.

The Blues remain without Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles), Emerson Palmieri (thigh), Antonio Rudiger (groin) and Marco Van Ginkel (ACL) for the clash at St Mary's.

Provisional squad: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Tomori, Christensen, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount, Willian, Abraham, Caballero, James, Zouma, Barkley, Pedro, Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic, Batshuayi, Giroud. Advertisement Predicted XI With the below in mind, here's how chief correspondent James Olley expects Chelsea to line up this afternoon.

(4-3-3): Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Tomori, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Willian, Abraham, Mount. Lampard tells Pulisic to earn place Photo: PA Christian Pulisic needs to "work daily" to show he deserves to play regularly for Chelsea, Frank Lampard has said.

The United States international did not even make the bench for Wednesday's Champions League match at Lille and has struggled to make his mark since moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Pulisic's £58 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund was agreed in January - when Lampard was not manager - but he has not played in the Premier League since August 31 and may not even be selected as a substitute for the Blues' fixture at Southampton on Sunday.

After joining the club for a significant amount of money, more was expected of the American, who turned in an underwhelming display in his recent start against Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.

On Pulisic, Lampard said: "He's level. I spoke to him two days before the Grimsby game and was very clear about the standards and we have to give him the fact he's moved country and moved leagues.

"He's as young as all the young players we keep talking about. He's just turned 21, so I think, if anyone is getting too excited about this, they should calm down because he's started five games for us.

"What he needs to do is work, work daily, work to show within the group that he deserves to play as all the players do, so that's what the focus on everyone is." Hasenhuttl inspired by Chelsea youngsters Photo: AFP Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl believes football is becoming a younger man's game as he prepares to face a youthful Chelsea team.

Blues boss Frank Lampard has already turned Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham into first-team regulars at Stamford Bridge, as well as giving opportunities to the likes of Reece James, Billy Gilmour and the fit-again Callum Hudson-Odoi.

"It seems that players are getting younger and younger," said the 52-year-old ahead of today's game at St Mary's.

"I have a lot of experience playing with young players in Leipzig, it was a very young team.

"I think a few years ago nobody would take this risk but if you can handle that they are making a few more mistakes, the development for the players is a massive one and they will make big steps in their development very quick.

"Although you know maybe it can cost you a few points or a few wins, but for our club it's very important to work like this because we must develop young guys from our own academy.

"We must have a few guys for the future, they bring us profit and maybe high transfer fees when we sell them to bigger clubs. This is our way we want to go. It means we have to work with them very, very hard." Advertisement Confirmed starting line-ups Southampton: Gunn, Valery, Bednarek, Yoshida, Bertrand, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Ings, Long.

Subs: McCarthy, Stephens, Adams, Armstrong, Boufal, Obafemi, Danso.

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Tomori, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Willian, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Abraham.

Subs: Christensen, Barkley, Caballero, Kovacic, Pulisic, Batshuayi, James. Kante passed fit A big boost for Chelsea as Kante makes the starting XI and is joined by Hudson-Odoi for the first time this season. James drops out of the squad entirely after starting against Lille in midweek. Barkley and Pulisic are back on the bench. Southampton make two changes as Yan Valery and Shane Long come in. Signs of improvement It seems that Frank Lampard has finally found the right formula for his Chelsea side. Photo: Getty The opening day defeat to Manchester United posed some questions for the 41-year-old: how to stop leaking goals, taking chances in front of goal and bringing through the youngsters into the team on merit. It appears Lampard has found the solution. They picked up a first clean sheet of the season against Brighton and the likes of Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham have earned their starting spots in the first team. Four academy products start today - and Lampard will be hoping the young quartet can repay the faith he has shown in them. Advertisement Chelsea will be hoping to extend their winning run in all competitions to four games today at St Mary's, but their defence has struggled to keep clean sheets away from home. Only Watford (32) have conceded more on the road than the Blues' 27 in 2019. However, they scored eight goals in their last two away games against Norwich and Wolves. Southampton, meanwhile, have scored in each their last 17 games at home and there have been at least two goals in this fixture in the last five meetings on the South Coast. Goals, therefore, can be expected today. The players are out on the pitch and we're nearly ready to get underway at St Mary's. KICK OFF KICK OFF! Chelsea, in their blue home strip, get us underway on the South Coast. Advertisement 1 min: Southampton start brightly, pressing high up the pitch, and Redmond takes it forward before unleashing a powerful effort which goes a few feet over the bar. Decent start from the home side. 4 mins: Tomori, so often a calm presence in possession, has a nervy moment at the back and Southampton win a corner. Chelsea haven't got going yet. The resulting corner comes out to Hojbjerg, but the Dane balloons his effort way over the bar. 9 mins: Southampton are making life very difficult for Lampard's men. They're struggling to play it out of their own half and Ings nearly catches Kepa in possession. Advertisement 10 mins: Hudson-Odoi gets involved for the first time and Abraham gets his first sight of goal but his low effort is well saved by Gunn. YELLOW CARD 12 mins: Azpilicueta appears to be tugged back by Long but no free-kick is awarded, even though it certainly looked like a foul. Play carries on though and Jorginho comes flying in with a wild lunge on Hojbjerg. Referee Paul Tierney pulls out the yellow card and the Blues, unsurprisingly, protest furiously. ES COVERAGE James Olley at St Mary's "Signs of life from Chelsea after a slow start. Hudson-Odoi has been encouraged by Frank Lampard to make ‘out to in’ runs and he did so to positive effect, coming in off the left to run in behind Southampton in a central position. He had the presence of mind to turn back and feed Abraham, whose low drive was saved. "Lampard will want that attack to kick Chelsea into gear as Southampton have been the better side so far." Advertisement GOAL! GOAL! | Southampton 0-1 Chelsea | Tammy Abraham 17' GOAL 17 mins: Abraham with a superb finish! Southampton are caught in possession and Hudson-Odoi floats a clever ball over the top to Abraham. He takes it down with one touch and with Gunn racing off his line, lobs it high over the goalkeeper. Photo: AFP Yoshida does his utmost to clear it off the line, but the goal is awarded by goal-line technology. Next

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