After a joyful Christmas break, the Premier League is back with a bang – a bang called the Boxing Day! The eight-fixture event is one Chelsea will be taking a part of, as they face Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Slightly over a week ago the Blues recorded their third successive 1-0 victory in the league by walking over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, making it a total of eleven wins on the bounce. It’s an amazing club record in addition to the seven-point lead on top of the table, but Chelsea won’t be settling for that and will look to make it twelve wins out of twelve tomorrow.
Bournemouth have had some ups and downs lately. Eddie Howe’s side won Liverpool and Leicester earlier this month, but lost to Burnley in between those fixtures, and got rolled over by Southampton last weekend by three goals to one at home. They’re the clear underdogs against Antonio Conte’s side tomorrow, but as we know, the Premier League can always be unpredictable.
Match Details
Kick-off at 15.00 UK Time, Stamford Bridge. Live coverage available for the game on our exclusive live blog.
One to watch
Charlie Daniels – The Bournemouth full-back might look like an idle player on the paper, but has a stamina and quality to cause huge havoc for the Blues offense and defence. The 30-year-old is playing a huge role in Howe’s team making important runs up and down the pitch, and will have to be well covered by the Blues defence.
Daniels has bagged two goals and one assists to his name this season, making 15 appearances in the league for the Cherries.
Injury News
Chelsea were handed an injury boost as captain John Terry is set to return to action against Bournemouth. However, it’s unlikely that he’ll be making the starting line-up straight away with the current back-three performing so well.
Diego Costa and N’Golo Kante are suspended for the game after collecting their fifth bookings of the campaign against Crystal Palace last weekend, and are likely to be replaced by Michy Batshuayi and Cesc Fabregas respectively. Rest of the team is declared fit to play.
Bournemouth have to do without their key players Lewis Cook and Junior Stanislas, while Andrew Surman is set for a late fitness test.
Recent form
Chelsea: W W W W W (Goals for: 8 Goals against: 2)
Bournemouth: L W L W L (Goals for: 9 Goals against: 12)
Previous meetings
Bournemouth 1-4 Chelsea (Elphick; Pedro, Hazard 2, Willian) – April 2016, Vitality Stadium
Chelsea 0-1 Bournemouth (Murray) – December 2015, Stamford Bridge
Match prediction
With rough Christmas celebration left behind us, I’m tipping Chelsea to come out of the match as winners with a 2-0 result, goals from Hazard and Batshuayi making the difference.
