Saints face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday 21st January (4pm). Ticket information is as follows:
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Gallagher showed striker’s instinct to slide in to level the score at 1-1, after Alex Smithie’s had failed to hold on to Maikel Kieftenbeld’s curling shot.
But the visitors earned their first away win of the season and sent the Blues bottom of the table, when Jack Robinson’s low effort doubled his and QPR’s tally for the afternoon.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Harrison Reed played the full 90 minutes as Norwich City narrowly lost out to Leeds United.
Pontus Jansson’s header from Pawel Cibicki’s corner had help from the post, but was enough for the hosts to earn all three points.
There was success north of the border though, as Harry Lewis kept a clean sheet in Dundee United’s 2-0 win over Greenock Morton in the Scottish Championship, thanks to a brace from Billy King.
Olufela Olomola was a late substitute as Yeovil Town drew 0-0 with Mansfield in League Two, while Ryan Seager was an unused substitute as MK Dons drew 2-2 at Scunthorpe in League One.
In Belgium, Jordy Clasie came on for Ruud Vormer on 77 minutes, as Club Brugge recorded a 5-0 win over Anderlecht.
Antonio Conte believes that Premier League clubs must not allow leaders Manchester City to strengthen their squad further with the signing of in-demand defender Virgil van Dijk.
Southampton centre-back Van Dijk is expected to be wanted by several English clubs when the January transfer window opens after he hinted he could be open to a mid-season move away from St Mary’s.
The Dutchman handed in a transfer request in the summer as Liverpool, and also Chelsea, circled for his signature although Southampton managed to hold onto the 26-year-old.
But, on Saturday, Van Dijk was dropped by Mauricio Pellegrino for the Saints’ clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - with the Southampton manager afterwards admitting he wants the club to try and keep their best players.
Conte was also asked about Van Dijk although the Italian refused to comment on whether the Blues are still interested in the defender.
But the Chelsea boss has said that every club who wants Van Dijk should do their best to compete with runaway leaders City to ensure Pep Guardiola’s side don’t end up signing another of the league’s top players.
“Every team, every club, must pay great attention,” Conte said.
“Because if a club like Manchester City takes all the best [players], it will be very difficult for us to fight. Not only in England but in Europe.”
We are almost at the halfway stage of the Premier League season, with nearly all 20 clubs having played 18 matches.
The most recent weekend of top flight action saw some more thrilling games and remarkable results, with Manchester City destroying Tottenham Hotspur at home, and Huddersfield claiming a quite incredible 4-1 victory over Watford - at Vicarage Road.
But who were the star performers of the weekend’s Premier League fixtures? Thanks to WhoScored.com, the stats experts have answered this very question for us.
Click the right arrow, above, to find out the man of the match in all nine games played over the weekend, based on their WhoScored rating…
Saints are now approaching what feels like another milestone moment in their season.
When they reached the game against Everton at St Mary’s it felt like a match they had to win if they were to avoid getting sucked into trouble.
They did get the victory, and in some style, but rather than being the catalyst for a run of results, things have meandered along since then.
There have been some tough fixtures, but also a couple of winnable ones.
However, when Saints welcome Huddersfield on Saturday they will know they need to take three points.
If not, given they are edging ever closer to the relegation zone, and with trips to Tottenham and Manchester United next up after facing the Terriers, there is the very real danger they could be in or very near the bottom three come the turn of the year.
At that stage, with more than half the season gone, any remaining hopes of upward momentum and achieving more than simply staying in the division would have to be set aside, and full on battle mode commence.
If Saints can get the win against Huddersfield, it at least eases the pressure, temporarily or otherwise.
It won’t be easy. Huddersfield come into the game confident after a big away victory, while Saints look dejected.
Losing 1-0 at Chelsea isn’t exactly an awful result, but you always got the sense that defeat was highly likely.
Saints were plucky enough, but it is questionable whether they defended really well, as they did against Manchester City, or just got men behind the ball against a Chelsea attack that was ineffective for most of the game.
Saints also offered little forward threat, creating one really good chance and not all that much else.
With Mauricio Pellegrino having said he would only pick players committed to the club after the hammering against Leicester, there were six changes.
The most significant was the dropping of Virgil van Dijk, but perhaps Pellegrino’s message got a little lost as rotation played a large part in his selection as well.
The first half turned out to be one defined by virtually the very last kick of it.
Up until that point Saints had battled away to try and keep Chelsea at bay.
Indeed, in the early moments they were bright going forward, with Ryan Bertrand’s low ball in from the left causing problems for Gary Cahill.
But after Cedric Soares limped off on 17 minutes and Pellegrino was forced into a slight reshuffle it became much more of a containment job for Saints.
They were increasingly pinned back for long spells and grateful to Fraser Forster for a number of saves, and some errant Chelsea finishing.
Willian put wide of the far post when he might have scored, Forster stopped Gary Cahill’s long range drive, as well as from N’Golo Kante.
Bertrand’s superb last ditch challenge denied Willian, Forster saved from Marcos Alonso and Pedro’s deflected shot hit the near post after he took advantage of Mario Lemina’s brief moment of hesitancy in the box.
The Chelsea goal eventually came deep into stoppage time.
Maya Yoshida brought down Eden Hazard as he broke forward, and Alonso stepped up to take the free kick 25 yards out just to the left of centre.
He hit it left footed, curling it round the outside of the wall and into the bottom corner with Forster unable to get across to it.
Strangely, Chelsea fell way off the pace after the restart and were bang average in the second period.
They did still have the greater weight of opportunities, but it was Saints who had the most clear cut opening.
That came after 62 minutes when sub Charlie Austin was played in one-on-one. Thibaut Courtois was quick to get out and narrow the target and Austin’s attempt to curl it into the far corner was saved.
Austin had the other significant Saints chance of the half, and the match, though it was much tougher, as he stabbed a shot goalwards after Sofiane Boufal’s through ball, but Courtois was there again, this time stopping with his legs.
Chelsea’s inability to get out of first gear meant they struggled to really threaten to break Saints down regularly, given that Pellegirno’s men continued to get so many players behind the ball.
Hazard did get the ball in the net but Cesc Fabregas was flagged for the tightest of offsides in the build-up.
Forster saved from Alonso and Alvaro Morata while Fabregas saw his effort from an incredibly tight angle dribble agonisingly across the goalline and away.
Saints couldn’t really exert any telling pressure on Chelsea in the closing stages, and it was Forster who had to save from Fabregas as the three points stayed in London.
It is a result that leaves Saints really looking over their shoulder.
Unlike when Everton came to town, Huddersfield should provide some live opposition.
They will need beating, and Saints will have to show they can do it under pressure.
If they fail, then life is going to get very tough indeed.
WESLEY Hoedt conceded “we are in danger” after Saints slipped closer to the Premier League’s relegation zone with a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s struggling side have now won just once in nine games and are just three points off the bottom three.
Hoedt said: “For sure, we are in danger. We have to stick together and, as fast as possible, we have to pick up some points because I think we have a really good squad.
“It’s easy to say but we have to start playing better and we’ve played 18 games already, so we cannot hide behind that anymore.
“For sure, we have to be really troubled and be as focused as possible to take points as quickly as possible.”
Marcos Alonso’s goal from a free-kick on the cusp of half-time consigned Saints to defeat at Stamford Bridge.
The 23-year-old centre-back says it was a “really stupid goal” to concede, having worked hard to keep the score goalless up until that point.
He said: “We started really good and played some good football. We were controlling the game. After that they took over but we played a good match in the first half and we took a really stupid goal. It cannot happen to us anymore.
“In second half it was a completely different game. They had all the spaces and we were just trying to stop them and, at that moment, we had two really good chances and could have equalised.
“It could have changed the game but in the end we could have done a little bit better to at least take a point.”
He continued: “We cannot concede these kind of goals anymore, so it’s something we have to sort out really fast. We have to change that kind of thing.
“It was really difficult in the second half because the space was really big.”
Saints started the second-half slowly but grew in confidence and nearly levelled when a couple of chances dropped to substitute Charlie Austin.
“In the last ten minutes we played with four at the back and we were a little bit more aggressive and could have done a little bit better,” the Netherlands international added.
“We were at least aggressive, but in these games you only get one or two good chances and we had them but unfortunately we didn’t score.
“We played well the first half, so the system worked – because we took that goal we had to change a little bit and that’s why the spaces were so big.”
Hoedt, a £15m summer signing from Lazio, has played nine of Saints’ 18 Premier League games so far.
The former AZ Alkmaar man admits he came to St Mary’s to be a starting player, but understands his position.
“That’s why I came [to start] but I cannot change this,” he said. “I can only do my best, play good games and that’s it.
“I have to improve, everybody has to improve. I’m the first one to look in the mirror and say I have to do more, but I want to play every game.”
He continued: “I’ve played some good games. Everybody wants to play and that includes me but you have to be self critical and if I want to play and the coach doesn’t put me in, I have to do more.”
Pellegrino denied in his press conference before the Chelsea trip that their had been a fall-out with Hoedt after he was omitted from the squad in the Leicester game.
When asked about this matter, Hoedt said: “I have nothing to say about that. The coach explained what happened and that’s closed with it.”
He now wants Saints to step up and fight.
“The only thing the players who are here now can do is fight for this club and give it our all,” he said.
Antonio Conte: We must compete with Man City for best players
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says other clubs need to compete with Manchester City in the transfer market, and has warned that teams across Europe could suffer if they fail to do so.
City are reportedly interested in signing Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk with the January window approaching, and Pep Guardiola says he is in discussions with director of football Txiki Begiristain over plans to sign a new centre-half.
Conte, however, has warned that City’s rivals cannot allow them to sign their transfer targets unchallenged.
He said: "Every team, every club, must pay great attention, because if a club like Manchester City takes all the best [players], it will be very difficult for us to fight.
“Not only in England but in Europe.”
Van Dijk handed in a transfer request in the summer to try and force through a move from St Mary’s, and Liverpool were reported to the Premier League by Southampton for their approaches to try and sign the Dutchman.
The 26-year-old previously added to the speculation that he could leave in January, saying: “Halfway through the season, maybe we can see what’s possible.”
His manager Mauricio Pellegrino has also admitted that he “can’t control” Van Dijk’s future.
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