📏 Form Guide

Chelsea

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Chelsea, following on from their previous result, will be hoping for more of the same after the 5-0 FA Cup success versus Morecambe.

In that match, Chelsea managed 81% possession and 28 attempts at goal with 8 of them on target. For Chelsea, the goals were scored by Tosin Adarabioyo (39', 70'), Christopher Nkunku (50') and João Félix (75', 77'). Morecambe had 7 attempts on goal with 4 of them on target.

It has been seldom in recent times that Chelsea haven’t conceded. In fact, Chelsea have failed to prevent opponents from scoring in 5 of their previous 6 clashes, giving up 7 goals on the way.

Ahead of this clash, Chelsea haven't lost in the league to Bournemouth in their last 6 matches.

Bournemouth

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Bournemouth will go into this meeting after a 5-1 FA Cup win vs West Bromwich Albion in their previous outing.

In that match, Bournemouth had 54% possession and 17 attempts at goal with 7 on target. For Bournemouth, the scorers were Justin Kluivert (27'), Dango Ouattara (34', 44'), Antoine Semenyo (47') and Daniel Jebbison (92'). West Bromwich Albion had 6 attempts on goal with 2 on target. Caleb Taylor (14') scored for West Bromwich Albion.

A sequence of steadfast showings from the Bournemouth defensive unit has resulted in their ‘goals against’ tally amounting to 4 from their past 6 clashes combined. During the same time, their own forwards have managed to score 9. We will just have to find out if that trend will end up being continued on in this game.

Their prior results show that Bournemouth:

• haven't won against Chelsea in away games against them for the last 2 matches in the league.
• are unbeaten in their last 4 away league matches.

🤜🤛 Head to head

Looking at their past head to head meetings stretching back to 29/02/2020 tells us that these encounters have been a source of anguish for Bournemouth. They’ve not managed to come away with any wins at all while Chelsea have been too good for them, winning in 67 per cent of those games where they have faced each other.

A combined total of 14 goals were yielded between them in these games, with 10 of them for The Blues and 4 belonging to The Cherries. This gives an average number of goals per game equal to 2.33.

The last league fixture between the two was Premier League match day 4 on 14/09/2024 when it finished Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea.

In that game, Bournemouth had 33% possession and 19 attempts on goal with 7 on target.

On the other side, Chelsea got 10 attempts at goal with 3 of them on target. Christopher Nkunku (86') scored.

The referee was Anthony Taylor.

📰 Team News: Chelsea

Benoît Badiashile (Hamstring injury), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Knock) and Wesley Fofana (Hamstring injury) won’t be able to feature for Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca.

We are thinking that The Blues look set to employ a 4-2-3-1 system this time, beginning the first half with Robert Sanchez, Malo Gusto, Josh Acheampong, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho and Nicolas Jackson.

📋 Team News: Bournemouth

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has to contend with a number of unavailable players. Adam Smith (Muscle injury), Marcus Tavernier (Thigh problems), Marcos Senesi (Hamstring injury), Luis Sinisterra (Hamstring injury), Julián Araujo (Hamstring injury), Evanilson (Broken foot), Alex Scott (Meniscus tear) and Enes Ünal (Cruciate ligament tear) are not able to play.

From our viewpoint, The Cherries might make use of a 4-2-3-1 lineup, choosing Mark Travers, James Hill, Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Lewis Cook, Tyler Adams, David Brooks, Justin Kluivert, Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo.

🧠 Prediction

We envisage that Chelsea should dominate on the ball and be rewarded with decent chances.

At the other end, Bournemouth may well find it hard finding the net themselves but we do fancy them managing to get on the scoresheet here.

We reckon that it will be a controlled 3-1 winning score for Chelsea after 90 minutes.

Our expert partners are tipping under 3.5 goals for this match. Check out their VIP predictions here.

Andre Moura, 19:03 14/01/2025