Six defeats from nine Premier League games has seen Bournemouth encamped in the bottom three through the first quarter of the season. They gained some respite with a 2-1 win at Stoke City last week, their first points picked up on the road this term. Goals have been in short supply, with only Crystal Palace two) scoring fewer than the Cherries’ six.
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Champions Chelsea have made a patchy start to their title defence, losing three of their nine games and while they sit fourth, the Blues are already nine points behind leaders Manchester City. Both sides have been frugal at the back, with Chelsea conceding 10 goals, while Bournemouth have looked fairly solid, conceding just 13 times. Chelsea have won the last three meetings with the Cherries and there have been more than three goals scored in each of those games.
Our Bournemouth vs Chelsea preview suggests the fact that the visitors have been good on the road this season and may well inflict another defeat on the south coast side. We also highlight in our Bournemouth vs Chelsea predictions that the home side has scored just once in the first half at home all season and the tea-time encounter may provide value with second-half goals.
Chelsea suffered a let-down at Crystal Palace two weeks’ ago when beaten 2-1, having previously had the stuffing knocked out of them in a highly-charged 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City. The fact that they bounced back to beat Watford – albeit they left it late to snatch a 4-2 win against the Hornets – bodes well. They have two tricky games coming up after this, away to Roma in the UEFA Champions League, before hosting Manchester United in the Premier League. Therefore, this clash against lowly Bournemouth is a potential banana skin, since they will no doubt be focussed on the bigger games to come.
The latest odds see Chelsea as favourites, and rightly so. Although they lost at Palace, Antonio Conte’s side won their previous three road games at Tottenham, Leicester and Stoke. Our English soccer predictions suggest that Bournemouth, who have scored just three goals in four games at home and have one victory to their name, will struggle to keep pace with the Blues.
Our Bournemouth vs Chelsea betting tips suggest Chelsea have the firepower to maintain their decent away from and keeping it simple, backing an away win, is perhaps the best policy. Betfair appear to offer fair value in this market.
Bournemouth’s strategy this season appears to favour being less adventurous than in seasons past. For five of their last eight league games have been goalless at half-time. Indeed, games involving Eddie Howe’s side saw both sides score in the second half just twice.
Both teams scored in second half in three of Chelsea’s first nine league games, but as stated previously, going against the grain is often the best long-term betting strategy. The percentages show that second-half goals are more common than first-half goals. Therefore, the latest Premier League football match odds which see bookmakers pricing odds-against for both teams to score in the second half are at loggerheads with the percentages.
It is true that in their four previous meetings, one or other failed to score in the second half. Yet Chelsea’s upcoming games mean that a slightly weakened side may be fielded and, if they get their noses in front as expected, Conte may decide to bring off a few key players with such big games upcoming. With Bournemouth desperate to get something from the game, they may throw caution to the wind in the second period. It must be remembered that Chelsea’s defence has conceded in the last three outings, and in the second-half in two of those games. In conclusion, we see the value in suggesting that both sides to score in the second half, feeling that this may be one of the best Bournemouth vs Chelsea bets. William Hill are among those to offer the best football odds in this market.