Chelsea’s eight-match tour of the capital from the start of the season draws to a close, with club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton previewing the Premier League visit of Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge.
This is the second successive top-flight fixture at the Bridge to kick off at 3pm on a Saturday, as elite club football returns following the international break.
Both clubs’ managers were appointed in the summer having previously plied their trade in the Bundesliga. In fact, while in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso encountered Marco Rose’s Leipzig six times, winning three and drawing one, the games averaging 3.8 goals per game.
The Cherries are winless in five under Rose (two losses and three draws), rising to seven if you include the tail-end of Andoni Iraola’s tenure.
Both teams are yet to keep a clean sheet in this campaign and share a goal difference of -2, though the Blues are the league’s joint-third leading scorers.
Chelsea are unbeaten in the past three league home games at our west London home, two of them victories and one a draw. The Blues have won four and lost none of our past nine top-flight bites of the Cherries, though each of the last three ended level, including the topsy-turvy 2-2 in this fixture last season.
Team news
Moises Caicedo has featured only once this term – a curtailed substitute appearance against Brighton & Hove Albion in August – due to injury, but returned to full training during the international break and is available for selection against Bournemouth.
‘Yes, he is ready to go,' Xabi Alonso replied when asked about Caicedo's fitness in his pre-match press conference. 'We have used the time with Moi to get him back fit. He has been training well and he is okay to go.’
Alonso also confirmed that Marco Palestra, who has yet to make his competitive debut for the Blues due to an injury sustained in the final week of pre-season, is in contention to feature against the Cherries.
There was also good news on the fitness of Reece James, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, each of whom had to withdraw from representing England and Brazil, respectively, due to fitness concerns.
‘They have all been able to train, some of them earlier than others – and Marco Palestra as well. That was the plan. We knew that going into Brentford we had some players struggling but they have trained well and are ready to go.’
The history
Chelsea are unbeaten in the past four league games against Bournemouth at the Bridge, evenly split between wins and draws, with two or more Blues goals on each occasion.
It was not always like that. The Cherries picked up all the points on three of their first five visits in the Premier League era, including the first in December 2015.
The only prior league meeting in London came in March 1989 as Bobby Campbell’s record-breakers were surging back to the top flight after one season in Division Two. Gordon Durie broke the deadlock for the league leaders against Harry Redknapp’s team, before Graham Roberts converted one of his dozen spot-kicks that season.
The Blues’ record home win in the Premier League against the Dorset club came on Boxing Day 2016. Three goals – from Pedro, an Eden Hazard penalty and a Steve Cook own goal – clinched a record 12th consecutive victory for Antonio Conte’s future champions.
Last season, the corresponding game was a see-saw 2-2 draw, with all the goals coming in a 22-minute first-half salvo from either side.
David Brooks scored for the visitors following a long throw, before Palmer equalised from the spot after livewire Estevao Willian was felled. The tables were turned when Enzo Fernandez fired into the top corner for 2-1, but before the half-hour mark Justin Kluivert tapped in from another throw.
Know this...
Since October 2020, Chelsea have won 10 and taken 35 points from the 21 Premier League matches that followed an international break - drawing five and losing six, scoring 31 goals and conceding six.
Morgan Rogers could face the team he played 15 times and scored once for on loan in the Championship during the 2021/22 season. Chelsea are unbeaten against Bournemouth since former Blue Scott Parker led them back to the top flight at the end of that season.
Only two Premier League players have made more runs with the ball leading to a shot than Rogers and Palmer (both 18).
Chelsea are aiming to avoid joining Everton (1994/95) and Derby County (2000/01) in conceding multiple goals over each of the opening six Premier League fixtures.
Hull City (18) are the only team to have received more yellow cards than the Cherries (14), who are also the top-flight’s third most-fouled outfit this season.
Three of Bournemouth’s four Premier League wins against Chelsea have come away from home, their only clean sheets at Stamford Bridge.