Bournemouth look to end their rut in a tricky Premier League encounter against top-four-chasing Chelsea.
Victory could lift Bournemouth as high as tenth depending on results elsewhere, whilst Chelsea can go third with a win if Aston Villa lose to Arsenal in the lunchtime kick-off.
Team News
David Brooks and Marcos Senesi will return for Bournemouth after the pair were suspended for the Cherries’ 1-0 loss against Everton.
Tyler Adams however is suspended after he collected his fifth booking in the midweek defeat.
Lewis Cook (suspension), Ben Doak (hamstring), Ryan Christie (knee) and Matai Akinmboni (muscle) remain absent.
Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns after their 3-1 defeat at Leeds.
Romeo Lavia (quad), Levi Colwill (ACL), Dario Essugo (thigh), Moises Caicedo and Mykhailo Mudryk (both suspension) are still sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Bournemouth host Chelsea at Vitality Stadium on Saturday 6 December at 3pm GMT, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Bournemouth are winless in their last seven league meetings against Chelsea (D3, L4).
- Chelsea have avoided defeat in four of their last five visits to Bournemouth (W2, D2, L1).
- Enzo Maresca’s Blues have kept just one clean sheet in their last four trips to Bournemouth.
- Andoni Iraola’s Cherries are looking to avoid going six consecutive league games without a win for the first time since February – April 2025.
- Chelsea haven’t lost consecutive away games in the top flight since a run of four such defeats between January – March 2025.
Prediction
Currently in a rut with one point in their last five games, Bournemouth were unlucky to not snatch a draw against Everton in a game where they simply didn’t take their chances, but they’re otherwise doing everything right in their attacking play but defence is their weakness at the moment.
Chelsea meanwhile are coming into this game off the back of a pretty disappointing defeat at Leeds because they were just outplayed in the first half, but ultimately didn’t take their chances in a dominant second half although they were due a blip so this is a chance to ensure that a rut isn’t starting.
As much as I expect Bournemouth to make this as difficult as possible for Chelsea, I just can’t see the Blues losing this if they can start better and gain early control because that was how Leeds seized the initiative against them in midweek.
Prediction: Bournemouth 1-2 Chelsea
Result: Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea