Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hinted that he will ring the changes to his side when they welcome Southampton to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

A run of three straight victories for Jose Mourinho's men came to an abrupt end with a 2-2 draw at struggling Newcastle United and a 2-1 defeat to Porto in the UEFA Champions League over the last week.

And next up come a Saints side who have rediscovered their form after winning their last two matches, scoring nine goals in the process.
Mourinho, therefore, has hinted at further changes on Saturday evening as he looks to return his side to winning ways.

"There are rotations, we always try to do a little bit," he said. "Mentally, it is important, physically it is important, but there is also a part of the rotation which is because of the instability of the performances.

"If you play well for four or five matches you get stability, you keep the core. It is normal. If not, it is normal that you always try to find solutions and win the next game."

Mourinho, who has led his side to just eight points from seven matches, has never lost to Southampton in the BPL, although both of last season's encounters ended in 1-1 draws.

"They [Southampton] are a good team," he said. "A team that last season we couldn't beat in the two matches, although we know that we could have won them. We know why we couldn't win.

"The match at home we had unbelievable dominance but we respect them a lot. For sure, they are going to give us a difficult match."

Despite the champions' struggles this season, Southampton defender Cedric Soares is in no doubt as to the Portuguese manager's ability and is relishing the chance to play against one of England's biggest sides.

"Everybody knows that the qualities he [Mourinho] has, he is an amazing coach," the 24-year-old told the Southern Daily Echo. "It will be a pleasure for me to play against him and for sure it will be a great game.

"It is a big game and every player wants to play those big games. It is about football.

"Big stadiums, big environment; you want to play that high level and Chelsea is one of the best teams, so everybody wants to play. We will do our best to win."

Despite their back-to-back wins Ronald Koeman's side’s away form leaves room for improvement, with no league win on the road in 10 matches; a run only equalled by Newcastle United.

The Dutchman will hope Graziano Pelle can continue to find the net scoring four goals in seven matches. Meanwhile, Chelsea do not have a single player who has scored more than one goal in the league.

Striker Diego Costa is suspended and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (knee) is still a long-term absentee, while Southampton have been coping without Steven Caulker, Jordy Clasie, Fraser Forster and Florin Gardos.

Chelsea (from): Begovic, Blackman, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Djilobodji, Ivanovic, Rahman, Terry, Zouma, Fabregas, Hazard, Loftus-Cheek, Matic, Mikel, Oscar, Ramires, Traore, Willian, Falcao, Kenedy, Pedro, Remy.

Southampton (from): K Davis, Gazzaniga, Stekelenburg, Bertrand, Cedric, Fonte, Martina, McCarthy, Targett, Van Dijk, Yoshida, S Davis, Isgrove, Mane, McQueen, Ramirez, Reed, Romeu, Tadic, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Juanmi, Long, Pelle, Rodriguez.

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