English Premier
2025-12-06 - Bournemouth vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 6th December 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Bournemouth
You can see the growing concern in Andoni Iraola's face after Bournemouth conceded late to end up on the wrong side of yet another Premier League game during the week. With fixtures against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United to come over before Christmas, the manager and the players are under pressure to snap the slide down the League table.
There is unlikely to be too much concern about being dragged back into a relegation scrap considering Bournemouth have already secured 19 points in the League this season. The table remains pretty congested, which means a couple of consecutive wins could make everyone feel that much easier about the situation, but Bournemouth have seen what a prolonged run of losses can do to the League position. The Cherries have a 4-2-1 record at the Vitality Stadium this season.
Bournemouth have won 1 of the last 7 Premier League games played, while the defeat to Everton on Tuesday means they have lost 4 of the last 5 since beating Nottingham Forest. They did show enough character to come from 0-2 down to remain unbeaten at home against West Ham United last month, but Bournemouth have failed to win their last 2 games here and could not offer any fightback against Everton.
Tyler Adams will serve a suspension and joins Lewis Cook on the sidelines. However, both Marcos Senesi and David Brooks will be available having been suspended for the last Premier League game.
Chelsea
The manager has yet to fully convince the Chelsea supporters that he is the right person to take this squad to the next level and the team selected for the game at Elland Road on Wednesday would have been a source of real frustration for the travelling fans. A poor start meant having to bring on some of the bigger names in the second half, but it was too late once Tosin made another big mistake at the back and Chelsea were well beaten.
That has dropped the team into 4th place in the Premier League table and the 9 point gap to leaders Arsenal looks huge, even in early December. The Blues can only focus on trying to bounce back this weekend on the South Coast and they take a 4-1-2 away record into this fixture.
Chelsea saw their 7 game unbeaten run in all competitions snapped in the defeat to old rivals Leeds United on Wednesday, but they have not lost consecutive fixtures since mid-September at Bayern Munich and Manchester United. The side had won 5 of 6 away games in all competitions prior to the defeat at Elland Road.
Moises Caicedo continues to serve a suspension, but the likes of Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Reece James and Pedro Neto can come back into the starting lineup. Cole Palmer returned as a substitute, but may have to settle for a place on the bench again.
Head to Head
Chelsea took four points from Bournemouth in the Premier League last season.
They were very fortunate in both games with late goals turning a single point into four.
Bournemouth have not won any of the last 4 home games against Chelsea and were beaten 0-1 here in September 2024.
Prediction
Both of these teams suffered very disappointing defeats during the week and so both Andoni Iraola and Enzo Maresca will be working hard to help Bournemouth and Chelsea bounce back immediately.
At least the recent Chelsea form suggests they can do that, but Bournemouth have been struggling for positives.
They were really poor in the defeat to Everton, although the return of Marcos Senesi and David Brooks will help.
4 losses in 5 games is not easy to ignore and Bournemouth also trailed 0-2 against West Ham United in the fixture they did avoid a defeat. That was also at the Vitality Stadium and The Cherries are going to be facing a much more solid looking Chelsea starting lineup than the one that Leeds United beat on Wednesday.
Having twenty-four hours longer recovery time is a factor that could play into the Bournemouth hands, but the players coming in for Chelsea can make a big difference after a full rest on Wednesday night. Reece James in particular was a big influence in the draw with Arsenal last weekend and he should be back in with Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto to make Chelsea that much more solid in defensive areas.
Pedro Neto is one of the leading attacking players and should also be back in the starting lineup and this should make Chelsea a bit more convincing.
Enzo Maresca will be demanding a much more intense start to the game, especially in what could be awkward December conditions on the South Coast. Having some of the stronger players available to start will help and Chelsea may just have the slight edge to earn an important three points here.
You cannot dismiss Bournemouth who have regularly shown they can mix it with the best when at their best.
However, there has been a couple of below par performances produced by the home team and it could lead to a very narrow Chelsea win.
The Pick :
Bournemouth 1-2 Chelsea
