Bournemouth and Chelsea will look to put disappointing starts to the Premier League season when they face each other at the Vitality stadium. The team of Andoni Iraola entered the international break with a 2-2 draw against Brentford. Their colleagues in the capital lost at home to Nottingham Forest by a score of 1-0.
Preview (Bournemouth vs. Chelsea)
David Brooks of Bournemouth continued his incredible comeback to the Cherries’ lineup against Brentford. After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Brooks scored his first Premier League goal in 1144 days. At the Gtech Community Stadium, Mathias Jensen’s first-half goal was canceled out by Dominic Solanke. Brooks’ strike in the 77th minute gave the visitors a tenuous lead. Bournemouth would have to wait, though. Bryan Mbeumo made a breakthrough to equalize in the third minute of stoppage time.
Bournemouth entered the two-week break with just two points from their first four Premier League games. It was good for the 16th position at this early juncture of the season. Though it’s nothing to sneeze at, the Cherries held Brentford to a scoreless draw at the Gtech fortress, and few would have predicted that they would come away with any points from their matches with Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool, even though they gave the latter a strong fight early on. The hosts, though, have already lost eight games in the top level since thrashing Leeds United 4-1 at the end of April due to a terrible run of results.
Pochettino can anticipate his defense to be put to the ultimate test in upcoming matches against Aston Villa (Premier League) and Brighton & Hove Albion (EFL Cup) before the month is out. Even if one of those victories was a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium back in May. It extended the Blues’ winning streak over their South Coast rivals to three games. The club’s record of two wins from 16 Premier League matches is still appalling for them.
Team News
Luis Sinisterra, who joined Bournemouth on deadline day, didn’t get to make his debut against Brentford. Given that he recently played for Colombia across the Atlantic, Iraola might hold off on starting him. In the same international situation as Sinisterra is Tyler Adams. A former Whites teammate who has yet to make his debut with the Cherries due to a thigh injury. Marcos Senesi and Hamed Traore are also in this situation. However, Dango Ouattara has overcome his ankle issue.
The remaining three patients in the Bournemouth medical bay are Alex Scott (knee), Ryan Fredericks (calf), and Emiliano Marcondes (foot). After following up on recent domestic success by scoring for Wales against Latvia – his first international goal since November 2020 – Brooks has undoubtedly put his name in the running for a starting position. Speaking of recent additions undergoing treatment, Carney Chukwuemeka, Wesley Fofana, and Marcus Bettinelli are all knee casualties who have joined Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia, and Christopher Nkunku on the long-term absence list.
Armando Duka, the president of the Albanian FA, had earlier predicted that Armando Broja would be on the bench for the first time since suffering a severe knee injury last winter, but Pochettino squashed those expectations in the pre-game press conference. Iraola’s team can still be confident that they can penetrate a Chelsea defense that is far from impenetrable, but with the in-form Raheem Sterling looking to stake his claim following his most recent England snub, the Blues should resume winning ways, regardless of how visually appealing it is.
Bournemouth 1 – 2 Chelsea
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