By ,
Published May 02, 2016
London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - With its European quest coming to an abrupt halt, Chelsea will turn its attention to the Premier League with a home fixture against Southampton on Sunday.
The Blues were ousted from the Champions League on Wednesday, suffering a 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain at Stamford Bridge to see the French side through on away goals.
The draw was made even more disappointing given that Chelsea enjoyed a man advantage for the majority of the proceedings as Zlatan Ibrahimovic was issued a straight red card midway through the opening period.
And though Chelsea twice went in front, PSG battled back to eliminate Jose Mourinho's men in extra time and ruin their chances of the coveted "treble".
Bowing out of Europe may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Chelsea as it allows the club to focus solely on its pursuit of a Premier League title.
The Blues enter the weekend on 63 points, five points better than second-place Manchester City. The London club does hold a game in hand, meaning that there is certainly some breathing room for Mourinho's side.
Southampton, meanwhile, has slowly dropped in the table.
The Saints once occupied third place in the English top flight, but a run of one point in three matches has dropped them down to seventh place with 49 points.
While Southampton boasts the best defense in the Premier League (20 goals conceded in 28 games), the well has dried up at the other end. The Saints have scored just one goal in their last four league outings with the lone strike coming in a 1-0 defeat of Crystal Palace, a tally that snapped a run of four games without a win.
The race for Champions League football next season remains camptivating as all five teams vying for third and foruth place earned wins last time out.
Arsenal, entering the weekend in third place, has won four straight in league play and is fresh off of its FA Cup defeat of Manchester United on Monday. The Gunners will attempt to keep rolling on Saturday when they welcome West Ham United to the Emirates.
Manchester United, meanwhile, will hope to bounce back from Monday's disappointing defeat and salvage the season with a top-four finish, starting with three points against sixth-place Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Liverpool, sitting atop the form table with 13 points from its last five league games, is also seeking a return to the Champions League and will aim to maintain its rich vein of form on Monday when it travels to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City.
Manchester City is chasing Chelsea and will hope to remain in the title hunt with a victory at Burnley on Saturday.
Rounding out Saturday's slate, Crystal Palace will play host to QPR at Selhurst Park, lowly Leicester City will welcome Hull City to the KP Stadium, Aston Villa will attempt to keep rolling at Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion will aim to close the gap on Stoke City.
And on Sunday, Everton and Newcastle United will meet at Goodison Park with both sides hoping to inch closer to the top half of the table.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/chelsea-hopes-to-rebound-against-southampton