English Premier
2025-01-14 - Chelsea vs Bournemouth
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Tuesday 14th January 2025 - Kick Off 7:30pm
This game is live on TV
Chelsea
The second string Chelsea squad made little early impact on League Two Morecambe, but a few second half changes just inspired the team to a comfortable victory and a place in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. Regular starters are expected to be back in action on Tuesday and Chelsea are keen to get back on the Premier League horse having been thrown off over the last fortnight to slip backwards.
Enzo Maresca's team are 4th in the Premier League table and they are 10 points behind leaders Liverpool having been considered a potential title challenger around Christmas. The bigger concern for Chelsea fans is that there are a number of clubs lined up behind their team in the race for the Champions League places and so it is important to improve the 4-3-2 record at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have scored five goals in beating Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Conference League and matched that total in the win over Morecambe on Saturday, but in between the team have failed to win any of 4 Premier League games. Since the 1-1 draw with Arsenal, Chelsea have won 4 of 5 home fixtures in all competitions, although they were beaten 1-2 by Fulham in the last Premier League game at Stamford Bridge.
Players like Robert Sanchez, Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson should be available to start and Chelsea's squad looks pretty settled.
Bournemouth
Every single Bournemouth fan should be really looking forward to what is to come for their club over the next five months, but a key for Andoni Iraola may be bringing in some reinforcements in this January transfer window. For all the positives, over the last seven days it has been announced that both first choice strikers are going to miss significant time and so Bournemouth will be looking to bring in replacements to push on after a strong first half of the season.
Playing in European Football is the ultimate ambition for the club and Bournemouth are 7th in the Premier League table with just 3 points between them and 4th placed Chelsea. The Cherries bring a 4-3-3 away record into this big Premier League fixture in West London.
Bournemouth came from behind to crush Championship West Brom in the FA Cup Third Round this past weekend and they have extended their unbeaten run to 9 games in all competitions. The positive move up the Premier League table has been aided by the fact that Bournemouth had won 3 away League games in succession, a run that was ended in the 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage.
Evanilson and Enes Unal have both been lost for some time and leaves Bournemouth short up front. Ryan Christie should be available, but Kepa is missing against his parent club.
Head to Head
A late goal helped Chelsea to a fortunate 0-1 win at the Vitality Stadium earlier this season.
Chelsea have won 4 of their last 5 at Stamford Bridge against Bournemouth, including the last 2 in a row.
Prediction
A poor festive period has just slowed the Chelsea momentum and any talk of a Premier League title challenge has almost been put to bed having lost significant ground on leaders Liverpool.
Enzo Maresca is not going to be concerned about that having insisted his young squad were not really ready to test the best teams in England consistently enough to win the Premier League.
However, the manager will want his Chelsea team to get back to winning ways and not offer encouragement to those clubs around them battling for a spot in the Champions League. Finishing in the top four is the ambition for the club so they are back in amongst the elite of European Football and so there is still some pressure on the players.
Chelsea have plenty of attacking qualities, but they just need the big names to be supported by others with the team perhaps not scoring as many goals as they should. There is a reliance on Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson that Maresca will want to change, and those names are rested after being given the weekend off.
Respect has to be given to Bournemouth and any team that is unbeaten in 9 games in all competitions will be confident.
You do have to worry about the fact that Bournemouth have lost both Evanilson and Enes Unal at the same time, but there are qualities in the final third that will cause problems for a Chelsea team that is far from watertight.
Bournemouth will look to play their football, and they will be encouraged by having won 3 away Premier League games in succession before the 2-2 draw at Fulham. They will feel they can score goals at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea will be happy facing a team that is not going to sit back in numbers to frustrate them and that may help the home team.
In recent years, Chelsea have had the better of Bournemouth at home and they may just have enough in the final third to end The Cherries unbeaten run.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Chelsea 2-1 Bournemouth
