Chelsea look to end their three-match winless Premier League run against a struggling Bournemouth.
Victory could lift Chelsea up to fourth if Brentford and Leeds both lose elsewhere, whilst Bournemouth can go as high as 11th with a win if Ipswich, Sunderland and Aston Villa lose elsewhere.
Team News
Reece James could return for Chelsea after a hamstring injury kept him ruled out of their 3-0 loss at Brentford before the international break.
Emmanuel Emegha (hamstring), Marco Palestra (knock), Jamie Gittens (ankle), Cole Palmer (groin) and Moises Caicedo (calf) face late fitness checks.
Joao Pedro remains sidelined with a knee injury suffered prior to the defeat at Brentford, which subsequently forced him to withdraw from international duty for Brazil.
Bournemouth will be without Alex Scott after the midfielder suffered a quad injury whilst on international duty for England.
Justin Kluivert is unlikely to feature as he recovers from a muscle injury.
Julian Araujo (thigh), Eli Junior Kroupi (foot), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Amine Adli (calf) are ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 10 October at 3pm BST, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last nine league meetings against Bournemouth (W4, D5).
- Bournemouth have won just one of their last six league trips to Chelsea (W1, D2, L3).
- Joao Pedro has been involved in six of Chelsea’s 10 league goals this season, having produced three goals and assists apiece in four appearances.
- Bournemouth’s Evanilson has been caught offside on five occasions in five league appearances this season.
- Xabi Alonso’s Blues have conceded 12 league goals in their first five matches this season – more than any other Premier League team.
Prediction
With one point in their last three league games and a lacklustre performance without Pedro at Brentford, Chelsea really need to knuckle down and focus on getting back to winning ways and sort out their defensive issues as their attack clearly won’t paper the cracks long term.
Bournemouth meanwhile have had quite a tricky start to life under Marco Rose but they have at least grinded out three draws in five league games, but they now need to start converting those draws into wins although Scott is a huge loss in midfield on top of Kroupi’s absence.
Rose’s Cherries however were unlucky to not draw against Liverpool last time out but this could be a harder test against Chelsea’s firepower, and I see them losing this but they might get one goal at least.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Bournemouth
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