Chelsea To Prove Too Much For Bournemouth?

Chelsea–Bournemouth

English Premier League, Week 4

1.9.2018

Having won each of their first three league games of the season, Chelsea will hope to continue their good start to the campaign when they take on Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon. With the team beginning to click under new boss Maurizio Sarri, the Cherries could be in for a tough time, particularly as Eden Hazard is now fully fit and ready to start the game.

Cesc Fabregas is the only injury concern for the home side, who are likely to continue using Mateo Kovacic in place of the Spanish midfielder, the man on loan from Real Madrid impressing with his early displays in the Premier League.

Wins over Huddersfield Town, Arsenal and Newcastle have Chelsea looking sharp under the former Napoli boss, and even though their defence has struggled at times, they should simply have too much quality for the visitors to pull off a repeat of last season’s victory at Stamford Bridge.

They have won three of their four competitive games this term however, adding a 3-0 win against MK Dons in the Carabao Cup to Premier League victories over Cardiff City and West Ham. A perfect start was ended last time out in a 2-2 draw with Everton, although Eddie Howe’s men deserve credit for battling back from a two-goal deficit to earn that point.

Bournemouth also have a trio of injuries to contend with ahead of the trip to West London, Junior Stanislas, Marc Pugh and Lys Mousset all sidelined, the latter limping off with an ankle problem after scoring in midweek

Callum Wilson will need to be at his best if the visitors are to have any hope, his tally of two goals from two appearances boding well for the rest of the season, but it is difficult to look beyond Chelsea and their plethora of attacking options here.

Alvaro Morata is expected to retain his place in attack despite being yet to discover his true form, meaning it can’t be long before Olivier Giroud is given a run in the side at the expense of the former Juventus man.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso; Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, N Golo Kante; Pedro, Alvaro Morata, Eden Hazard

Bournemouth (4-4-2): Asmir Begovic; Adam Smith, Steve Cook, Nathan Ake, Charlie Daniels; David Brooks, Andrew Surman, Dan Gosling, Ryan Fraser; Josh King, Callum Wilson