Bournemouth vs Chelsea: Preview and Prediction

Bournemouth host Chelsea for the first time in the English Premier League on Saturday evening.

Bournemouth are 13th in the league and are three points behind Chelsea and a win here will help them move above the Stamford Bridge Blues.

Both teams are going through a bad patch as Chelsea have lost two in a row, while the Cherries have lost in three of the last four. And neither of the team has no real chance in qualifying for European football next season.

Form Guide:

• Bournemouth lost three of their last four games.
• The last six games of the Cherries have witnessed over 2.5 goals.
• Chelsea lost back-to-back games in the league and failed to score a goal on both occasions.
• The Blues have managed to win just once in their last 5 games.
• Their defeat to Swansea on matchday 33 is the only away loss for Chelsea under Guss Hiddink in this season so far.

Bournemouth: Team News

Eddie Howe will be without six first team players as Tyrone Mings, Benik Afobe, Harry Arter, Adam Smith and Tokelo Rantie.

Changes are hardly expected as Bournemouth look to get back to winning ways against Chelsea.

Bournemouth: Expected Starting Eleven (4-4-1-1)

Boruc,
Daniels, Cook, Elphick, Francis,
Ritchie, Gosling, Surman, Gradel,
Grabban,
King.

Chelsea: Team News

John Terry, Loic Remy and Kurt Zouma are injured for Chelsea in the trip to Bournemouth.

Chelsea will be without the Thiabut Courtois, who is suspended for the next two games following his sending against Manchester City.

Eden Hazard still remains a doubt and is a likely to miss out on the team sheet once again.

Nemanja Matic is expected to start with Cesc Fabregas moving into a number ten role.

Chelsea: Expected Starting Eleven (4-2-3-1)

Begovic,
Kenedy, Cahill, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta,
Mikel, Matic,
Pedro, Fabregas, Willian,
Costa.

Bournemouth vs Chelsea: Head-to-Head Stats

The teams have met only once in a competitive match so far. Bournemouth won the clash 1-0 on 6th December 2015, by a solo goal from Glenn Murray in the 83rd minute.

Bournemouth vs Chelsea: Prediction

The Cherries are not in good form, but Chelsea will look to produce a solid performance with the return of a fully fit Diego Costa and Gary Cahill to the starting line-up.

An upset like the one that happened in the first leg is hardly expected here and the Blues look good to emerge as comfortable winners on Saturday evening.

My score prediction for this match is Bournemouth 0-2 Chelsea.