The international break was well-timed for Chelsea, who will want to snap a losing streak of two games when they play Bournemouth on Saturday in the Premier League.
Two weeks ago, the Blues were only able to salvage a point from a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, while the Cherries produced one of the greatest comebacks in league history against Everton.
This season, Chelsea's off-field actions have caused considerably more controversy and debate than their on-field accomplishments under Enzo Maresca. However, with the transfer market officially closed until January, the recently appointed manager can now devote his time to football-related things for the foreseeable future.
After defeating Servette and Wolverhampton Wanderers back-to-back and hitting the latter for six runs at Molineux, the Blues' season appeared to be getting off to a great start. However, in their Europa Conference League qualifying match, Maresca's team lost the second leg to the Swiss, which was embarrassing but not very significant.
A win in their last three consecutive away fixtures in the Premier League will indeed benefit Chelsea on Saturday but their catastrophic defensive performances elsewhere do not; the visiting team has not registered a clean sheet in the last 17 leagues away matches since a 0-0 stalemate with Fulham in October 2023.
Look back to the beginning of the month March 2023, when Bournemouth stunned all football fans as they won the first half of their match against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium by two goals to nil but the hosts came back in the second half and level the score at 2-2 only for Nelson to strike the final nail in Bournemouth’s coffin in the first minute of stoppage time with a 3-2 victory for Arsenal.
However, the Cherries were on the right side of such a great turnaround in the Everton’s Goodison Park encounter two week ago when right after the 87th minute, Everton scored two goals through Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Antoine Semenyo’s last-gasp header would surely be a mere consolation, but Bournemouth fans started dreaming when Lewis Cook headed an injury-time equaliser before Luis Sinisterra converted a stunning back-post header to kick-start the exodus of the Everton fans.
Staging one of the biggest comebacks seen in the Premier League, Iraola’s side remain undefeated in the league this season and are currently occupying the eighth spot on the English league table for top division teams, however, they have never started a top division season without having been defeated in the first four matches.
In addition, Bournemouth have never beaten Chelsea in a Premier League match since the pre-lockdown period of December 2019/2020 season though the Cherries have had 5 fixture fixtures with the blues since then, and though it must be stated that they claimed a hard-earned point from Chelsea via a 0-0 draw at the Vitality Stadium exactly round this date last season.
The Chelsea supporters departed with a familiar feeling of regret despite Maresca's plenty of changes for Crystal Palace's visit, as the team has failed to duplicate its incredible end-of-season form from 2023–24. This was because Eberechi Eze's stunning goal negated Nicolas Jackson's effort.
Jadon Sancho, a Manchester United loanee, may make his Chelsea debut this weekend after Maresca gave him a way out. Due to his last-minute arrival on deadline day, he was not allowed to play against Palace.
Cole Palmer, another former Manchester United player, withdrew from the England team due to a thigh injury. However, he has since been photographed working out, indicating that he could be able to play this weekend. Goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen has also been practicing.
Kepa Arrizabalaga, a Blues loanee, will lose his starting spot for Bournemouth shortly after he gains it since he is unable to play against his parent club on Saturday. Mark Travers is expected to cover the goalie position because Neto is currently wearing the red of Arsenal.
Dango Ouattara, who joined Tyler Adams (back) on the sidelines due to an ankle injury he had while serving for his country, has also left the Cherries. However, Enes Unal (foot) and Philip Billing (back) may make a comeback.
After putting on a performance that has earned him a shot at winning the Game Changer of the Season title, Sinisterra deserves to be promoted to the starting lineup, replacing either Evanilson or Marcus Tavernier.
The Blues are in familiar terrain in the Premier League standings, sitting in 11th position but just one point and three spots worse off than their forthcoming opponents, with one victory, one draw, and one loss on their mixed report card for 2024–25.
