Chelsea vs Bournemouth

Chelsea restarts their Premier League campaign against a struggling Bournemouth side as they host the Cherries in the Boxing Day round of fixtures.

Graham Potter’s men will be up against Man City once again on the 8th of Jan in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. The Cherries have had a similar stroke of luck compared to their rivals. After a successful gallop of nine consecutive wins under the new leadership of Graham Potter, Chelsea has failed to register a win in their previous three fixtures.

Minute-by-minute report: Can Chelsea's fortunes improve when they resume their campaign against a Bournemouth under new ownership? Join Rob Smyth.

[Premier League](https://www.theguardian.com/football/premierleague) season on a high when they routed Everton 3-0. [Premier League](https://www.theguardian.com/football/premierleague) debut in midfield. [Bournemouth](https://www.theguardian.com/football/bournemouth) at Stamford Bridge. Pulisic collects a loose ball on the edge of the D and surges into the area. It wasn’t much of a shirt pull, and Pulisic certainly made the most of it, but it was still a shirt pull. He mishits a shot into the crowd and Zakaria was crowded out but Havertz collected the loose ball and played it back to Mount on the edge of the D. Play continues, Chelsea break and Pulisic scores at the other end – but the goal is disallowed for a softish foul by Havertz on Smith (I think) in the build up. “If the ref blows for the foul on Pulisic after he got the shot away (that goes wide), it would be a penalty but maybe not a red card. Zemura comes across, but James wins a 45/55 ball and smashes a shot that is blocked at the near post by Travers. I suppose the key is whether Graham Potter is brave enough to do what he wants rather than what he thinks is expected of a Chelsea manager. A collection of overpaid, not consistently motivated players who will constantly rotate in and out of the team as they don’t fit the structure of what the manager would like?

Bournemouth have former Chelsea Academy player Dominic Solanke in their attack. Chelsea: Kepa; James, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly, Cucurella, Jorginho (c), Zakaria, ...

[Bashir Humphreys](/en/teams/profile/bashir-humphreys), our development squad captain. [Denis Zakaria](/en/teams/profile/denis-zakaria) is in midfield for the first time in the Premier League. [Christian Pulisic](/en/teams/profile/christian-pulisic), [Kai Havertz](/en/teams/profile/kai-havertz) and [Raheem Sterling](/en/teams/profile/raheem-sterling).

Chelsea take on Bournemouth in the Premier League, and we here at Chelsea Transfer Room have early team news courtesy of Sam_c345 on Twitter.

A massive boost for Chelsea. A win for Chelsea will put them 8th in the Premier League table, level on points with Brighton unless they can win by seven goals or more which will move them ahead on goal difference. Read More Chelsea Stories: There is some great news for Chelsea as a certain right full-back will return to the line-up after some time on the sidelines. Denis Zakaria gets a rare start, but it will be a massive chance for the Swiss international to prove himself. Chelsea take on Bournemouth in the Premier League, and we here at Chelsea Transfer Room have early team news courtesy of

Related Stories · Chelsea re-start the Premier League season in 9th · Graham Potter buoyed after mid-season talks with Chelsea ownership.

“I am even more confident and even more aware of the support I have now than I was three months ago when I took the job. So you have to reflect, take the pain and frustration and work out how we can go forward and make this situation better. On the counter-attack, it is wonderful play from Solanke to dance through a couple of challenges in Chelsea's midfield, drawing a foul from Thiago Silva. In some games under Potter, it has looked more like a 4-4-2 diamond with Havertz dropping into an attacking midfield position and Sterling and Aubakmeyang as split strikers (when the German is higher, it looks more like a 4-3-3 again). Raheem Sterling was not quite on the touchline, but in behind the Bournemouth wing-back. He is currently limping through the game a little, but is trying to carry on. The midfielder is now back on his feet, and is judged fit to continue. Zakaria is down on the turf, with a head injury causing a few minutes of stoppage time. Chelsea attacking with numbers again, and it was Mount's first time pass to Zakaria which injected pace into the move. Promising moment there from Bournemouth after Koulibaly's loose pass in his own half, to groans from the home crowd. The delivery curls out for a goal kick though - Bournemouth really need to maximise those situations. Bournemouth are still looking semi-threatening, working the ball into promising positions with some measured football.

Chelsea return to Premier League action this afternoon as Graham Potter's side welcome Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge.

The American gets a shot away but misses the target. Kalidou Koulibaly latches onto the end of a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta and goes agonisingly close with the header. However, the German dragged his shot wide of Mark Travers' post. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Conor Gallagher both come on the pitch. 16 and a half minutes of normal time left. Goals from Kai Havertz and Mason Mount earn the hosts three points but the game has been slightly overshadowed by Reece James limping off injured in his first game back from recovery. Gallagher rounds the defender but his shot is then blocked. And there will be plenty to read from across the website before today's game gets underway at 5.30pm GMT. Denis Zakaria and Christian Pulisic go off. Chelsea are back to winning ways on their Premier League return. Conor Gallagher is found on the edge of the box by Kai Havertz. Wesley Fofana (knee), Ben Chilwell (hamstring), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (thigh), N'Golo Kante (hamstring) and Armando Broja (knee) are all currently ruled out.

Chelsea are in talks over completing the signing of Benoit Badiashile ahead of the January transfer window, Nizaar Kinsella reports. Having recently poached ...

You say it will get better with time and you have to focus on the things you can control. It was a challenging period for all the players. “I have to say he is in a good mood, he is in a good place. “He is missing the World Cup. “It was a challenging period for him. But Potter is fully aware of Chelsea’s need to reverse a woeful run of form, adding: “I’d like to have gone up and down California with a couple of wins, but it wasn’t to be. “It feels like there’s a really good spirit, a really good connection around the building. "He was in a really good place before he got injured. "There have, of course, been discussions around the window's approach but nothing concrete to arrive yet. The Blues are nine points adrift of the top four as things stand and need to make up that deficit in the race for Champions League qualification. “So I’m really looking forward to the weeks, months and years ahead. I’m even more confident now, even more aware of the support I have now than I was three months ago when I took the job.

Chelsea snapped a five-game winless streak in their Premier League restart, but the player performances were a mixed bag against Bournemouth.

[Trevoh Chalobah](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/227784/Trevoh-Chalobah) (Sterling, 88"), N/R -- Was solid to help see out the game as he smashed the ball clear. [Conor Gallagher](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/266696/Conor-Gallagher) (Zakaria, 82"), N/R -- Had his shot blocked by Kelly after a brilliant opportunity opened up for him. [Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/122260/Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyang) (Pulisic, 82"), N/R -- Played one nice ball through but then had another attempted burst forward denied by Marcos Senesi. [Mason Mount](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/231167/Mason-Mount), 9 -- Showed plenty of intelligence to pick up nice pockets of space and utilise them brilliantly. [Christian Pulisic](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/225607/Christian-Pulisic) had a goal ruled out before half-time, but the two early goals decided the result as Chelsea put in a positive display that saw the Blues move up a place to go eighth on [the Premier League table](http://www.espnfc.com/soccer/table/_/league/eng.1). [César Azpilicueta](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/97770/cesar-azpilicueta) (James, 53'), 6 -- Comfortably slotted into the backline, heading back to Kepa from a potentially dangerous Bournemouth ball, although there were times he struggled when Bournemouth ran at him. Delivered a perfectly weighted pass for Havertz to score the opener and was denied by a strong left hand from Mark Travers. Made a poor attempt at a flick after Travers saved James' shot, then hit a wild effort from a promising position in the second half. Provided a solid defensive display and did brilliantly to flick the ball away from Jack Stacey in his own box. Made a great header to clear Zemura's cross, then came agonisingly close with a header of his own. There was a lot of quality on the ball for manager Graham Potter to be pleased about, and his side also often pressed well. [Kai Havertz](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/231182/Kai-Havertz) converting from [Raheem Sterling](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/156366/Raheem-Sterling)'s perfectly weighted pass.

Kai Havertz and Mason Mount struck inside the first 24 minutes to get Chelsea back in the hunt for a place in next season's Champions League.

"You need everything to go for you. It's a blow for us," added Potter. "You have to use breaks as best you can," Potter told Amazon Prime.