Chelsea v Bournemouth Preview
Chelsea hosts Bournemouth knowing that they need to take all three points against the struggling south coast side. The Cherries are stuck in the bottom three, having slid down the table after picking up some costly injuries and would be looking to improve their standings by scripting a heroic win.
Chelsea’s 0-0 draw at Spurs last weekend was a third consecutive clean sheet after a 1-0 win at Norwich and a 4-0 victory over Maccabi in the Champions League. They have a huge game coming up in midweek against Porto where a place in the knockout rounds still needs to be confirmed and although the defensive record is improving, they are still in the bottom half of the Premier League standings.
With Radamel Falcao’s return to the Chelsea matchday squad being delayed by a week as Jose Mourinho opted to line up without a recognised striker for the previous game, Oscar was chosen to no avail ahead of Diego Costa and the Chelsea boss may revert to playing an established front man for the visit of the Cherries though it is not clear whether the Portuguese would forget the gesture of the Brazilian-born striker when being dropped or would be punished by being dropped again. Also, injuries to John Terry and Ramires have not mended as quickly as hoped and both players look likely to miss out again this weekend. Big news is, Chelsea’s star goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is back from the injury and is expected at least make the bench against the newly promoted side.
The Blues currently sit 14th after picking up a point at White Hart Lane, and they know this is a match where they have a chance to pick up points and move up the table.
Bournemouth come into the weekend third from bottom, but they have managed to draw their two most recent matches, at Swansea and at home to Everton. They have taken four points from six road trips and the point at Swansea ended a run of four successive defeats on their travels.
Adam Feruci was the latest in a long line of Bournemouth injuries when joining first choice goalkeeper Artur Boruc on the treatment table. The reserve keeper was forced out of the 3-3 draw against Everton on Saturday which leaves Ryan Allsop set to make the first Premier League start of his career. Midfielder Harry Artur has yet to complete a full 90 minutes this term and came off feeling his hamstring after 75 minutes against the Toffees.
Bournemouth have yet to keep a clean sheet away in the Premier League. A 2-2 draw away to Swansea two weeks ago was their first away point since a shock 4-3 win at West Ham in August. The manager is coming under increasing pressure as his side continues to ship goals and will need to win at Stamford Bridge to have any chance of climbing out of the bottom three this weekend and the visit of Eddie Howe’s decimated Bournemouth squad presents a golden opportunity for Chelsea’s struggling strikers to get among the goals against a side that has conceded 30 times in the Premier League already this season.
Predicted Lineups
Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Begovic; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Cahill, Ivanovic; Willian, Pedro; Oscar, Matic, Fàbregas; Hazard
Bournemouth starting lineup (4-4-1-1 formation): Federici; Daniels, Cook, Distin, Francis; Ritchie, Stanislas, Gosling, Surman; King; Arter
Predictions
This is a nice opportunity for the Blues to turn the tide and get some wins on the board. Chelsea 3 Bournemouth 0