Southampton1 - 5Chelsea

The Blues made it three Premier League wins in a row on Wednesday night as they recorded a 5-1 victory over lowly Southampton at St Mary's.

On a night where Liverpool were held by Newcastle United, Chelsea have cut the gap to the leaders in the Premier League table to seven points.

Maresca surprisingly made seven changes to his starting lineup, reintroducing Madueke who had been dropped to the substitutes' bench for the previous win over Aston Villa.

Madueke responded with an assist and a goal during a dominant Chelsea triumph on the South coast, rediscovering the form that earned him a regular spot in Maresca's side during the early weeks of the campaign.

Maresca hits out at Madueke consistency

The 22-year-old, who has also earned England recognition during 2024-25, has recorded five goals and two assists from his 12 starts and one substitute outing in the Premier League this season.

Nevertheless, Maresca is eager to see more from the attacker, indicating that his high level drops once he has enjoyed a brief period of success.

Speaking to reporters, as quoted by football.london, the Italian said: "With Noni, I have personal relation in terms of he can do much more. He can do much more.

"The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit and the reason why he was not playing is because I do not like the way he trained.

"He has to understand that he has to train every day good. He has to be ambitious. He scored one tonight, he has to go for the second one and the third one. He has to give more assists.

"But overall, he is doing great, he is doing fantastic. He is doing even better in terms of numbers. Noni has to understand he has to work more because he can be much, much, much better."

What will be Maresca's move?

Although Maresca generally rewards his players when they have performed well, he now has several wide players who are in form and deserving of a start against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

With Pedro Neto remaining as an unused substitute on Wednesday evening, the Portugal international seems likely to get the nod on one of the flanks.

That realistically leaves Madueke and Jadon Sancho competing for the other place. Sancho scored his first Chelsea goal during the closing stages versus Southampton having been introduced in the 71st minute.

Sancho's determination to make an impression, and extra freshness, may see him get the nod at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Written by

Darren Plant