Chelsea v Bournemouth: Blues to end January in style

Chelsea v Bournemouth
Wednesday 31 January, 19:45 GMT

Blues aiming to consolidate Champions League place

Sunday's FA Cup game against Newcastle was a stroll in the park for Chelsea as they wrapped up a 3-0 win to book their place in the next round. That victory made up for some of the disappointment they suffered at Arsenal in the EFL Cup four days prior, and they now must focus on cementing their place in the Premier League top four.

Antonio Conte's men have actually gone eight without defeat in the league, but three of those were draws - two of which came from their three latest outings. There are still plenty of question marks surrounding the future of the Italian manager, but on the whole they don't appear to be affecting his side's performance.

This is Chelsea's third match in eight days so I expect a bit of rotation from Conte, but he was able to give Eden Hazard a 20 minute break at the end of the Newcastle game, and Ross Barkley is a new addition to the squad.

Cherries need to bounce back from FA Cup exit

While their opponents have been battling it out in two domestic cup competitions, Bournemouth have been able to put their feet up and have a rest. They haven't played since their 1-1 draw at West Ham on January 20th, and it's only their sixth fixture of 2018 - compared to Chelsea's ninth.

The Cherries were dumped out of the FA Cup at the hands of League One's, Wigan, but they have enjoyed some better results in the Premier League. The draw at West Ham extended their unbeaten run to five - three draws and two wins - and they are now up into 12th place in the table, albeit just three points clear of the relegation zone.

Jermain Defoe remains sidelined with injury, but the truth is that he hasn't proved as successful back on the South Coast as was perhaps expected, and their best run of the season has come without the England striker.

Comfortable home win on the cards

The hosts are trading at a short price for this one, as they are around the 1.30 mark. It's hard to argue with that, and that's despite Bournemouth's recent upturn in form.

The Blues have won eight of their dozen at Stamford Bridge this season, and while that's nothing to shout about for a team of their stature, their slip-ups were mainly at the beginning of the campaign. They have now taken 22 points from a possible 24 since their 1-0 defeat to Man City, and five of their seven victories were to nil.

The Cherries have actually lost just two of eight on their travels in the Premier League, but it's certainly worth noting that their defeats were at the Manchester clubs, while their positive results - four draws and two wins - came at Stoke, Newcastle, Swansea, Crystal Palace, Brighton and West Ham. They all share one thing common going into this gameweek - they are all in the bottom half of the division. However if you fancy an upset, the draw is 6.60 and the away win is 12.50.

I expect this to be a comfortable home win for Chelsea, but rather than put them up at 1.30, I've explored the Correct Score options. The one that sticks out to me is 3-0, which is trading at around the 9.80 mark.

The reigning champions beat Newcastle by the same scoreline on Sunday and they have conceded just one goal in the last seven at home in the league. Eden Hazard is the key to their success and he will likely relish a match against a Bournemouth defence that have conceded 10 goals over the course of their last five on their travels.

Don't be seduced by the stats when it comes to goals

The Over/Under 2.5 Market has a clear favourite and that is the over at 1.58. It would have only landed in four of Chelsea's dozen league outings at the Bridge this term though, and only six of Bournemouth's 12 on the road.

Each game should be viewed on an individual basis as well however and those stats alone aren't enough to sway me to back Under 2.5 Goals at 2.60. As noted by my correct score prediction, I'm leaning towards a few goals in the match, as I believe that the visitors could be there for the taking.

Ref Watch

The appointed official for this fixture is Lee Probert and he's got quite an interesting record this season. Of the 20 matches he's refereed, nine of them were card-less. That's quite an achievement and more likely down to his style than the games in question, so I wouldn't be rushing to back a high number of booking points here.

RECOMMENDED BETS

Back Chelsea to win 3-0 @ 9.80