2025-26 Premier League: Week 19 – Chelsea vs Bournemouth

Chelsea look to get their top-four challenge back on track against struggling Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. 

Victory would lift Chelsea back up to fourth whilst Bournemouth can climb to 13th with a win if Newcastle and Brighton both lose elsewhere.

 

Team News

Chelsea could be without Marc Cucurella after he suffered a hamstring injury during their 2-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

Jorrel Hato (knock) is a doubt but Romeo Lavia (quad), Levi Colwill (ACL), Dario Essugo (thigh) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspension) are still sidelined.

Bournemouth could be without midfielder, Alex Scott after he suffered a knock to his jaw during their 4-1 loss at Brentford.

Antoine Semenyo could too be absent due to transfer speculation surrounding his future.

Ben Doak (hamstring), Tyler Adams, Veljko Milosavljevic (both knee) and Matai Akinmboni (muscle) remain absent.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Chelsea host Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday 30 December at 7:30pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK.

 

Stat Attack

• Chelsea are unbeaten in their last eight meetings against Bournemouth (W4, D4).
• Bournemouth have won just one of their last five league trips to Chelsea (W1, D1, L3).
• Chelsea have kept clean sheets in three of their last five meetings against Bournemouth.
• Enzo Maresca’s Blues have won one of their last six league games (W1, D3, L2).
• Bournemouth are looking to avoid going ten games without victory for the first time under Andoni Iraola.

 

Prediction

Having dominated Villa for much of the opening hour amidst several wasted final touches through poor accuracy, Chelsea really need to bring more composure but be defensively more aware because they lacked any ideas to stop Villa’s improved second-half intensity.

Bournemouth meanwhile were just physically outclassed at Brentford from start to finish both defensively and in their end product, so this is a chance to just reset now and tighten up their marking otherwise this could be another long game for them.

Stamford Bridge also hasn’t exactly been a happy hunting ground in recent seasons for the Cherries but with one win in their last six league games, Chelsea really need a result to get their top-four push back on track yet their defence is their weak point with sloppy errors.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Bournemouth