TALKING POINTS

The vital victory in Lille made it three on the trot across all competitions for Chelsea for the first time since April. The goals from Tammy Abraham and Willian also established a new club record run of eight away games without defeat in Europe, and qualification for the knockout stages is back on track.

Frank Lampard will be determined to take that positivity into next week when the second of three international breaks before December kicks in. The hurdle before that is a Southampton side nursing back-to-back losses.

The Blues’ head coach has bettered Sunday’s hosts already this year, though that was with Derby in the FA Cup back in January. A draw in round three required a replay that ended in a repeat 2-2 scoreline, but the Rams won the penalty shoot-out 5-3 – with then loanee Mason Mount among the successful takers.

This pocket of Hampshire has become a happy port of call for Chelsea. The Londoners tasted victory as the first ever visitors to St Mary’s Stadium in August 2001, and have scored at least one goal in each of our past 15 away games against Southampton in all competitions, last failing to find the net in December 1997.

Brighton rocked

Last weekend’s 2-0 win (the first clean sheet of the season) means Chelsea have won all nine league meetings with Brighton, making a new Football League record for most games played by a side against an opponent with winning every one (overtaking Bournemouth’s eight straight wins against Wimbledon).Chelsea’s sequence against the Seagulls began in 1983 and the aggregate goals tally is 19 goals for, two against – both Brighton’s strikes coming on the south coast.

Having netted his first league goal since January against the Seagulls, Willian celebrated becoming the first South American member of Chelsea’s 300 club against Lille by scoring in successive games, something he had not managed since September 2018.

Chelsea’s set-piece deficit

Unfortunately the Blues’ vulnerability at free-kicks and corners was spotlighted again in Lille and in the Premier League only Watford and Everton have conceded more goals from that source.

The problem is being exacerbated by not forging efforts on goal from set-plays at the other end of the field. Although Lampard’s men are second only to Manchester City in terms of overall shots on goal, 12 teams have managed to produce more shots than the Londoners from set-piece situations.

On the positive side, the victory over Brighton produced the most attempts on goal and on target so far in the league campaign.

Premier League top scorers

Sergio Aguero 8Tammy Abraham 7Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7Teemu Pukki 6Raheem Sterling 6

Carabao Cup and Champions League catch-up

Chelsea vs Manchester United in round four of the Carabao Cup has been selected for live TV coverage and switched to an 8.05pm start on Wednesday 30 October.

Chelsea’s next Champions League challenge is back-to-back fixtures with Group H leaders Ajax. The Eredivisie champions, who have not conceded in their last three matches in all competitions, play at Den Haag on Sunday.

Southampton’s unsafe haven

Southampton have done pretty well on the road. Six of their seven points so far have been gathered away from home, and a 0-0 draw at the Bridge last season helped them escape relegation. That was Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first encounter with the Blues.

However, St Mary’s is not proving a safe haven for the Saints. They have not won at home in the Premier League since 13 April, losing twice (Liverpool and local rivals Bournemouth) and drawing three times (the Cherries again, Huddersfield and Manchester United) since then.

The Austrian admitted his side squandered a great opportunity by losing 2-1 to 10-man Tottenham last weekend, though striker Danny Ings maintained his habit of scoring goals against ‘top-six’ clubs.

Hasenhuttl has rotated regularly in defence and used a 3-4-3 system at Spurs, although winger James Ward-Prowse, in for Cedric Soares at right wing-back, struggled against Heung-Min Son.

Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner…

The day after two English players combined to score a Champions League goal for Chelsea for the first time in seven years, four Blues players were named in Gareth Southgate’s squad – the most from any one club.

Fikayo Tomori, who set up the opener against Lille, and Tammy Abraham, who scored it, are joined for the forthcoming internationals by Mason Mount and Ross Barkley. It is conceivable that at some stage this season their ranks could be swollen by Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James and Ruben Loftus-Cheek who, like Abraham, were all born in London. It is a long time since the west Londoners’ team had such a sizeable ‘cockney’ contingent.

Storm Lorenzo

The last remnants of Atlantic hurricane Lorenzo could still be around Southampton on Sunday, producing gusts of wind reaching Force 6 on the Beaufort Wind Scale, making large branches sway, corner flags flap and pop, and footballs move in mysterious ways.

St Mary’s pitch is roughly aligned north-to-south, and the wind will come from the north-north-west, so in-swinging crosses could be the order of the day at the south end goal in front of the Chapel Stand.

Premier League fixtures

SaturdayBrighton v Tottenham 12.30pm (BT Sport)Burnley v Everton 3pmLiverpool v Leicester 3pmNorwich v Aston Villa 3pmWatford v Sheffield United 3pmWest Ham v Crystal Palace 5.30pm (Sky Sports)

SundayArsenal v Bournemouth 2pmManchester City v Wolves 2pmSouthampton v Chelsea 2pm (Sky Sports)Newcastle v Manchester United 4.30pm (Sky Sports)

Read: Stats for Chelsea playing at Southampton