A trip down to the South Coast is on the agenda this weekend for Chelsea, as they are away to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
The Blues ended a run of back-to-back league defeats with a 4-2 win at home to Watford. Pedro, Cesar Azpilicueta, and a double from Michy Batshuayi helped Antonio Conte’s side come from 2-1 down to claim all three points.
Chelsea were also in Carabao Cup action on Wednesday night, as they hosted Everton. A rotated Chelsea side were 2-1 winners over the Toffees, with Antonio Rudiger and Willian on the scoresheet to send the Blues into the quarter-finals, where they will ironically meet Saturday’s opponents Bournemouth, for a place in the last four.
Bournemouth also won last weekend. Eddie Howe’s side beat Stoke City 2-1 away from home. Goals from Andrew Surman and Junior Stanislas helped the side claim a valuable three points.
Like Chelsea, the Cherries were also in the cup action during the week. Saturday’s opponents also booked their quarter-final spot in the cup with a 3-1 win over Championship side Middlesbrough.
Despite sitting in 19th, Bournemouth are still a very impressive side and have a number of talented players that could hurt Chelsea on Saturday.
Ahead of the fixture, we take a look at four Bournemouth players and see what threats they could pose to Chelsea.
Asmir Begovic
One of two former Chelsea players that joined Bournemouth in the summer, Asmir Begovic will be a tough man to beat in goal this weekend.
As a result of the Cherries’ poor start to the season, Begovic as only kept one clean sheet in nine league appearances so far, and has conceded 13 goals. Despite a lack of clean sheets, the Bosnian is capable of a huge performance.
Standing at just over 6ft 5in tall, Begovic will be aerially dominant. So far this season, he has made nine high claims and has opted to punch the ball out seven times.
Nathan Ake
The second ex-Chelsea player in the red and black of Bournemouth will be Nathan Ake, a tough tackling defender that Antonio Conte will know all about.
Ake has made a good start to life back at the Vitality Stadium. Despite a poor defence showing, the Dutchman has made 14 tackles so far this season, winning 71% of them.
Alvaro Morata will have to be on top form to get past the 22-year-old, who has won 50 duels this season, compared to 23 lost. Aerially, he has won 31 battles, whereas he has only lost 15.
Andrew Surman
In the Bournemouth midfield, Andrew Surman will dictate the play for the home side, and Chelsea will need to keep him quiet on Saturday.
So far this season, Surman has netted twice in the league, joint as the club’s highest scorer with Joshua King. Last season, he didn’t score a single Premier League goal.
He has made a total of 501 passes so far this season, averaging 62.63 a game. His long-range passing has been good, too. Surman has made 30 accurate long balls this season.
Jermain Defoe
Despite being an injury doubt, Jermain Defoe will cause a number of problems for the Chelsea defence if he does feature.
Always clinical in front of goal, Defoe has only managed to score once this season for Bournemouth. However, he is still capable of finding the back of the net at any opportunity.
If he scores against Chelsea, Defoe will become the first player to score against the Blues for four different sides. Also, his next goal will be the 35-year-old’s 200th goal in all league competition.
