Match preview: Confidence-stricken Chelsea travel to high-flying Bournemouth

I’m sure you as fans are sick of hearing this at this point but Chelsea are once again back in action tomorrow. The love for the club from all of us will never end, but this season has been exhausting and depressing. 

Lampard was blunt after the defeat to Arsenal, saying: “The first half performance was not good enough, in every way. We were nice to play against in every way, nice off the ball, passive. Things we spoke about before the game defensively we didn’t do. We didn’t restrict space between the lines, we didn’t get the line up as much as we didn’t do, we didn’t pressure the ball, we didn’t make contact with Arsenal players”

“Then on the ball, same. Passing short, passing to ourselves in bad position, not playing longer, not making forwards runs, things that we talked about. Play like that, you get what you get”

Bournemouth are the challenge tomorrow for the Blues, and one that history says provides a difficult challenge, even during better times. 

If you don’t remember, flashback to 2019 when Bournemouth embarrassed Chelsea 4-0 at the Vitality Stadium. That was the first game Gonzalo Higuain played since his transfer from Juventus at the time, but it ended with Maurizio Sarri locking the doors to the dressing room after the match and ranting at the players for the performance they produced. 

Chelsea losing to quote-on-quote “smaller clubs” is not just relevant to this season, however it does feel like no team this season has been a “bogey team” – Chelsea are handing out points to everyone home or away. The performances from game to game as a collective are nothing short of disgusting. 

How do Chelsea go about tomorrow’s task? Frank Lampard in his press conference today already told reporters that since the Arsenal game on Tuesday, it’s just been about recovery and small preparation this morning. 

My reaction to that was just pure anger, for those who watched the performance against Arsenal, there was nothing that required two days of recovery. 

The positive takeaways from the match against Arsenal were the two wingers that Chelsea signed in January, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke. Both should start tomorrow If Frank values selection on merit. 

Luckily, Frank Lampard had no new injuries to report ahead of tomorrow. Mason Mount, Reece James and Marc Cucurella will miss the match, as expected. 

With zero wins in six matches, twelve goals conceded and only two goals scored, it’s time for Lampard to shake the lineup up and include some talented young players like Lewis Hall and Carney Chukweumeka. 

Bournemouth : 

Manager Gary O’Neil has done a fantastic job since taking over, so much so that Bournemouth are now sitting in 13th, only one place behind Chelsea. 

Recent wins over Leicester, Spurs, Southampton and Leeds will give them plenty of confidence coming into the match tomorrow. 

O’Neil said in his press conference: “There are still a lot of points available to us and, of course, as the head coach of the team, I’m desperate to put as many points on the board as possible regardless of the situation“.

Chelsea may take hope from the fact that West Ham beat Bournemouth 4-0 recently at the Vilality Stadium, but even then, West Ham’s attack is on much better form than Chelsea’s. 

Former Chelsea academy striker Dominic Solanke will be hoping to make an impression against the Blues tomorrow, the striker has netted six goals this season but perhaps more impressively, provided seven assists. 

Bournemouth are going to naturally be cautious against Chelsea but they are not a side that will sit back for the sake of sitting back, and why should they? Chelsea’s defensive frailties combined with the home atmosphere provide Bournemouth with the ideal opportunity to get a result tomorrow. 

Other key threats from Bournemouth include attacking midfielder Phillip Billing, who has found the net seven times this season, and Jefferson Lerma, who provides a mix of defensive abilities and forward ability, scoring two goals last match in a 4-1 win against Leeds. 

Overall, this match should see Chelsea control the possession whilst Bournemouth will try to defend In a compact block with their usual five at the back formation sure to cause a confidence-stricken Chelsea side struggle. 

Chelsea will have to start players who can unlock a door, win fouls in attacking area’s and take responsibility on the ball, all of these reasons are taken into account when I was thinking of what team I would like to see named tomorrow at 2pm. 

Stats section : 

• Bournemouth have won four of their last eleven meetings against Chelsea (D1,L6), though three of these victories came at Stamford Bridge. 

• Chelsea have lost three of their last six meetings with Bournemouth (W2,D1), they won the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge this season, only completing the league double over Bournemouth in 2016/17. 

• Chelsea have lost four Premier League games in the Saturday 3pm kick-off slot this season, that is as many as they had over the last four campaigns (1 in 2018/19, 2 in 2019/20, 0 in 2020/21, and 1 in 2021/22) they last more in a single season back in 2002/03 (5). 

• Chelsea have not failed to win any of their three away games against newly promoted sides since 2012/13 – they could do that tomorrow, losing to Fulham and drawing to Nottingham Forest already this season. 

My Chelsea lineup :

My score prediction for tomorrow is 2-1 Bournemouth.