Chelsea look to reignite their top-four dreams in a home clash against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Victory would see Chelsea return to eighth in the table, whilst Bournemouth can go 12th with a win.
Team News
Reece James could return for Chelsea after recovering from a knee injury which had ruled him out of England’s run to the Quarter-Finals of the FIFA World Cup.
Mason Mount (calf) and Kepa Arrizabalaga (foot) face late fitness tests but Armando Broja is sidelined after he suffered a serious knee injury during a friendly against Aston Villa.
Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, N’Golo Kante (all hamstring), Wesley Fofana (knee), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (calf) remain absent.
Croatia’s Mateo Kovacic and Morocco’s Hakim Ziyech won’t be available after the pair were involved in the Third-Place play-off at the World Cup, of which Kovacic’s team won in a fierce contest.
Edouard Mendy, Thiago Silva, Christian Pulisic, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz should all be available after their World Cup exploits, from which they returned without injury.
Bournemouth could welcome Jefferson Lerma back after he missed their Carabao Cup exit at Newcastle last week with a knee injury.
Lloyd Kelly (ankle), Ryan Fredericks (illness) and Marcus Tavernier (knock) all face late fitness tests.
Neto (hamstring) and David Brooks (fitness) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have claimed just four points from their last five league meetings against Bournemouth (W1, D1, L3).
- Bournemouth have won three of their last five visits to Chelsea (W3, L2).
- Two of Bournemouth’s three league wins over Chelsea came during the month of December in 2015 and 2019 respectively, albeit via 1-0 result on both occasions.
- Chelsea are looking to avoid suffering four consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since February – March 1998, yet still finished fourth that season.
- Marcus Tavernier has scored in each of Bournemouth’s last two league matches (W1, L1).
Prediction
Having hit a domestic slump before the international break with no wins in six games across all domestic competitions, Chelsea certainly need to improve quickly if they’re to stay in the top-four hunt especially after a toothless display at Newcastle in their last competitive fixture.
Bournemouth meanwhile have already been back in competitive action where they showed impressive defensive quality to frustrate Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, yet ultimately limited their defeat to just one goal in a positive if challenging performance.
All pressure though will be on Chelsea to see how they fare as favourites in this game which should suit Bournemouth, who were absolutely clinical in their aggressive attacking press to beat Everton in their last league outing so should look to adopt some of that quality albeit on counter-attack here.
With that in mind, this clash could go either way given Bournemouth’s recent form at Stamford Bridge but I wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsea just have the edge in what looks like a difficult contest.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-0 Bournemouth
Result: Chelsea 2-0 Bournemouth
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