2019-20 Premier League: Week 28 – Bournemouth vs Chelsea

Relegation battling Bournemouth face a tough test as they host top four chasing Chelsea at the Vitaly Stadium. 

Bournemouth can potentially move five points clear of relegation with victory, whilst Chelsea could move six points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United with a win. 

 

Team news

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Jefferson Lerma and Nathan Ake are both in contention to return for Bournemouth after recovering from a back injury and concussion respectively.

Lloyd Kelly (thigh), Charlie Daniels (knee), David Brooks (ankle) and Arnaut Danjuma (foot) are still absent.

Chelsea could be without Tammy Abraham after the striker suffered a fresh ankle injury during their cooldown after Tuesday’s 3-0 Champions League defeat at home to Bayern Munich. 

Callum Hudson-Odoi could however return from a hamstring injury here but N’Golo Kante (muscle), Marco van Ginkel (knee) and Christian Pulisic (groin) remain sidelined. 

 

Form

Bournemouth enter this match with ten points from their last ten league games (W2, D1, L7), scoring in three of their last four home outings with the exception of a 3-0 loss to Watford last month.  

Chelsea come into this game with just one win in their last five league outings (W1, D2, L2), although they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last away trips in all competitions. 

Stat Attack

• Bournemouth have won four of nine previous Premier League meetings against Chelsea (W4, L5), although just one of those four wins came at home. 
• Each of Bournemouth’s last eight goals in this league fixture has come after half-time. 
• There has never been a draw in nine Premier League clashes between these two teams. 
• Bournemouth are yet to receive a penalty against Chelsea in this Premier League fixture, with the Blues having scored their only penalty. 
• Neither team is yet to see a red card after nine top flight games against each other. 

 

Prediction

After Tuesday’s mauling at the hands of Bayern Munich, Chelsea need to come out and show their quality because a defeat here would be damaging ahead of Tuesday’s FA Cup clash against Liverpool. 

Bournemouth however have little to lose here given that survival is their only priority and with wins in their last two home games, they will surely relish this clash against a team low on confidence. 

This therefore should be an interesting game because I can see Bournemouth playing on the counter, which will pose questions of the Blues’ waning defence but I can see a draw here given the current attacking quality of both teams.

Prediction: Bournemouth 1-1 Chelsea

Result: Bournemouth 2-2 Chelsea