Bournemouth vs Chelsea

Out-of-sorts Chelsea travel to the Vitality Stadium to take on high-flying Bournemouth in a bottom-half Premier League showdown.

What looked almost unfathomable only a few weeks ago has turned into a reality, with last weekend’s 4-1 demolition of Leeds United moving Bournemouth nine points clear of the Premier League relegation zone. Having emerged victorious in four of their five most recent league outings (L1), Gary O’Neil’s men come into proceedings seeking only their second-ever Premier League home win over Chelsea (W1, D1, L3). High scoring has been a common theme in their top-flight match-ups at the Vitality, with four of their five previous encounters here featuring over 3.5 total goals. Interestingly, none of Bournemouth’s last six home league games have ended level (W3, L3), with five of those results (win/loss) seeing the winner on the day net multiple goals, highlighting the importance of staying sharp in the front third.

That’s not been Chelsea’s strong suit this season by any stretch of the imagination, with only Wolverhampton Wanderers (29) scoring fewer goals than the ‘Blues’ (31) among sides starting this round outside the red zone. Since assuming managerial reins in April, interim boss Frank Lampard has lost all six competitive games in charge of Chelsea, including a 3-1 drubbing at Arsenal in midweek, stretching their abysmal winless run to nine (D2, L7). As mentioned, goals have been in short supply for the ‘Pensioners,’ especially under Lampard, as they scored only twice in those six matches under his stewardship. Heading into this round amid the club’s worst losing streak since the club-record seven in 1961, the visitors risk going winless in all three Premier League away clashes against promoted sides for the first time since 2012/13.