2015-12-05 - Chelsea v Bournemouth
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 5th December 2015 - Kick Off 5:30pm
This game is live on TV
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho described the Chelsea goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur as 'one of the best' performances his side have put together this season. While the pressure seems to have come off the manager over the last few weeks, it is still a big month coming up for Chelsea who still have a big gap to bridge between themselves and the top four.
In a week in which the renovations to Stamford Bridge were announced, missing out on the financial benefits of being in the Champions League would be a big blow for the defending Champions. The Blues are still down in 14th place in the Premier League table and find themselves 12 points behind Arsenal in the top four so Chelsea have to improve their 3-1-3 record at Stamford Bridge to begin to tighten that gap.
Chelsea have lost 1 of their last 5 games in all competitions and they had won 3 of 4 games before the draw at White Hart Lane on Sunday. It is a big week for Chelsea with a Champions League game to come that they can't afford to lose, but that game is also at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have won 3 of their last 4 games here in all competitions including a 1-0 win over Norwich City two weeks ago.
John Terry, Ramires, Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy should all return to the squad this week. Diego Costa controversially flung a bib in the direction of his manager last week as an unused substitute and may not be restored to the side.
Bournemouth
While some have suggested Eddie Howe perhaps resort to a 'Plan B' to help Bournemouth escape the bottom three, his players clearly like playing for their manager. After blowing a 0-2 lead at Swansea City two weeks ago, Bournemouth showed the fight the club have having recovered from 0-2 down against Everton and also conceding a 95th minute goal to fall behind again in a 3-3 draw last week.
That will have given Bournemouth plenty of confidence if not enough to escape the bottom three after that game. The Cherries are 18th in the Premier League table and it is little surprise the struggles have come away from home where Bournemouth are 1-1-5 this season, scoring 9 goals but conceding 18.
Bournemouth have at least ended a run of 5 consecutive losses by earning back to back draws ahead of this one. However, it does mean they haven't won since the middle of September, a run of 10 games in all competitions. Bournemouth had lost 4 straight away games in the Premier League before the 2-2 draw at The Liberty Stadium.
Artur Boruc could return this week and be joined by the likes of Steve Cook, Marc Pugh, Harry Arter and Lee Tomlin in the squad.
Head to Head
Chelsea last played Bournemouth in the League Cup in the 1994/95 season and won both Legs that year.
This is only the third time Chelsea have hosted Bournemouth and they have won their previous two games against them at Stamford Bridge.
Prediction
In normal years you would say a Chelsea home game against Bournemouth is the perfect game for the home to get ready for a vital Champions League game days later. While I still believe Chelsea will win this game, it is not as straight-forward in a season when The Blues have already had more losses than they would expect through the course of a season.
I am expecting Chelsea to be too strong having won 3 of their last 4 games at Stamford Bridge in all competitions and Bournemouth's pretty poor away record. The 1-0 win over Norwich City showed signs Chelsea were getting back to their best and I just have this feeling that someone is going to take a thumping from them here sooner rather than later.
There were enough chances in the Norwich game to win two different games and Chelsea should give Bournemouth plenty to think about. Eddie Howe won't go gung-ho here but he will give his players the chance to express themselves and that hasn't worked out for Bournemouth who don't defend as well as they need to at this level.
Bournemouth have conceded at least twice in their last 6 away games in the Premier League and I do think Chelsea have begun to find their feet with their defensive shape. John Terry could be back to strengthen them there and Bournemouth have yet to replace Callum Wilson as effectively as they would have liked.
I think there is enough of an edge here in favour of Chelsea to think they will win this by a couple of goals at least and I will back them to do that.
The Statistics :
| CHELSEA LAST SIX HOME FORM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
DATE | RESULT | OPPOSITION | |
| 2015-11-21 | W | 1-0 | H v Norwich | |
| 2015-10-31 | L | 1-3 | H v Liverpool | |
| 2015-10-17 | W | 2-0 | H v Aston_Villa | |
| 2015-10-03 | L | 1-3 | H v Southampton | |
| 2015-09-19 | W | 2-0 | H v Arsenal | |
| 2015-08-29 | L | 1-2 | H v Crystal_Palace | |
| BOURNEMOUTH LAST SIX AWAY FORM | ||||
 |
DATE | RESULT | OPPOSITION | |
| 2015-11-21 | D | 2-2 | A v Swansea | |
| 2015-11-01 | L | 2-0 | A v Southampton | |
| 2015-10-17 | L | 5-1 | A v Man_City | |
| 2015-09-26 | L | 2-1 | A v Stoke_City | |
| 2015-09-12 | L | 3-1 | A v Norwich | |
| 2015-08-22 | W | 3-4 | A v West_Ham | |
| HEAD TO HEAD CHELSEA v BOURNEMOUTH | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| DATE | HOME | SCORE | AWAY |
The Pick :
Chelsea 2-0 Bournemouth
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