England Premier League
Saturday 6th May 2023
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Vitality Stadium
Match Preview:
It’s 13th v 12th and Bournemouth have the same points as Chelsea coming into this weekend and the motivation is clear to go out and beat them and go past the Blues. The Cherries were in a relegation fight a few weeks ago but that has been conquered as Gary O’ Neil’s side will look to finish the season strong and certainly it seems as if O’ Neil has staked a valid place to be in charge next season. With victory the club could well set their sights on finishing in the top half of the table which would have been unthinkable a month ago.
Form has been brilliant for Bournemouth with 4 wins from 5 and their 4-0 loss at home to West Ham inbetween all of those positive results was simply brushed off and forgotten and the club have moved 5 points clear of the Hammers and 9 points clear of the bottom three. Recent results have seen victories over Southampton and Leeds.
A Nightmare at Stamford Bridge sounds like a valid title for a horror movie because in no way shape or form owner Todd Boehly after the outlay he has spent could have envisioned such an awful season. Thomas Tuchel sacked, Graham Potter sacked and now under Frank Lampard who will be released at the end of the season the club actually got worse and this is a terrible moment for Lampard no doubt. It’s 4 league games in charge and four defeats for the former Chelsea legend and one has to wonder if Lampard has not damaged his reputation and if this will be his last management with a big club? The worry for Chelsea is that bar their last defeat against Arsenal the other losses have come against sides that the Blues would have been heavily tipped to beat. But the defeats have rained in losing games against Brentford, Brighton and Wolves.
On the road the Blues have lost 50% of their games and have earned 16 points from 16 games played. Scoring goals has been the obvious problem for Chelsea and they only have 14 so far away from home. Leeds who have the second to worst away record have scored six more and Chelsea would rank in 13th place on away form only. It’s just one win on the road in the last two months for them and that came against Leicester.
Team News:
Bournemouth: Kieffer Moore is suffering from concussion and we would have to assume he will be rested for this game. Marcus Tavernier will be assessed with his hamstring, Junior Stanislas is set to miss out again with a knock. Ryan Fredericks is out with a calf injury and Hamed Traore remains a doubt to return because of a foot injury.
Chelsea: Marcus Bettinelli has a knock and is only 50/50 to return for this game. Marc Cucarella will mis out again due to his thigh injury but could return next weekend. Mason Mount, Kalidou Koulibaly and Reece James are all out long term.
Bournemouth vs Chelsea Head to Head:
The last time the teams played here was in 2020 and the game finished 2-2.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Chelsea won 2-0.
Chelsea have only been able to win 1 of the last 4 meetings.
Bournemouth vs Chelsea Prediction:
Bournemouth are good value for the win and they are in very good form but perhaps it can be argued that they have had some good fixtures and let’s not forget the recent 4-0 loss at home to West Ham. However who would want to be backing Chelsea who look incredibly under confident and shot to pieces? At the same time it could be argued that surely Chelsea’s form is going to turn around and it would be stunning to see Lampard’s win rate remain at 0% until the end of the season. Chelsea certainly have the players at least on paper to win but that is something we have been saying for several weeks now and only one of these clubs seems stable, has a belief in the manager and the spirit to fight for the game.
This is a Chelsea side that can come good and one would expect to see a reaction next season but for now it is difficult to see this current Chelsea side improving, and perhaps the best value choice here would be to back the home side.
Bournemouth vs Chelsea Betting Tips:
Double chance (Bournemouth or draw) at 1.65
Anytime goalscorer: Dominic Solanke at 3.25
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