Chelsea vs Bournemouth

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?

The Premier League is back, and two teams that were headed in opposite directions before the World Cup break meet in a 12:30 p.m. match.

Still, it is on the road, where it has failed to keep a clean sheet in any of its 17 top-flight away games since a 1-0 win at Chelsea in December 2019, In addition, two of Chelsea’s best performers at the World Cup – Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech – are players whose futures at Stamford Bridge are far from certain. [fubo TV](https://www.fubo.tv/stream/soccer/?bgvideo=EPL-Mornings.mp4&title=Watch%20Premier%20League%20matches%20on%20NBCSN&subinfo=Stream%20on%20your%20TV,%20Computer%20and%20other%20devices&priceline=See%20them%20live%20or%20record%20for%20later&irad=356365&irmp=1810047)(give the FREE seven-day trial a try), [DirecTV Stream](https://www.directv.com/tv/Premier-League-Soccer-U1hIbWYzV2I5Q0xTcEM0RjdEYjZqdz09)and [Sling TV](https://www.sling.com/whatson/sports/soccer/stream-premier-league-live-sling-tv)live-streaming it. The 12:30 p.m. Well, the Premier League returned to play Monday, with more matches scheduled for today. [fubo TV ](https://www.fubo.tv/stream/soccer/?bgvideo=EPL-Mornings.mp4&title=Watch%20Premier%20League%20matches%20on%20NBCSN&subinfo=Stream%20on%20your%20TV,%20Computer%20and%20other%20devices&priceline=See%20them%20live%20or%20record%20for%20later&irad=356365&irmp=1810047)(give the FREE seven-day trial a try), [DirecTV Stream](https://go.skimresources.com?id=126006X1587341&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.directv.com%2Ftv%2FPremier-League-Soccer-U1hIbWYzV2I5Q0xTcEM0RjdEYjZqdz09) and [Sling TV.](https://go.skimresources.com?id=126006X1587341&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2Fwhatson%2Fsports%2Fsoccer%2Fstream-premier-league-live-sling-tv)

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

Chelsea will be hoping to turn their fortunes around when they face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge.

Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. In addition to exclusive rights, FuboTV streams more than a dozen popular sports and entertainment channels including HGTV, Food Network, and much more. However, they are not out of the woods yet, as they are still in danger of being pulled into a relegation battle. Meanwhile, Bournemouth has been performing well lately, securing 14th place in the table. The Blues have been struggling as of late, with three consecutive losses in the Premier League. Premier League odds courtesy of

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.

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.

Christian Pulisic got the start for Chelsea against Bournemouth as the USMNT star returned to Premier League action after a superb World Cup.

Quality first half goals from Kai Havertz and Mason Mount did the damage and Bournemouth were spirited but lacked the cutting edge to cause Chelsea too many ...

The American winger has been linked with a move away from Chelsea in January but it appears he is in Potter’s plans for now. It was his first start for Chelsea in the Premier League since Oct. The Red Devils are a point back of fourth-place Spurs and have played one fewer match than Tottenham. Or will Bournemouth spring a huge shock? Deserved lead for Chelsea and that is what Potterball is all about! But Kai Havertz fouls a Bournemouth defender before Pulisic takes his shot. Bournemouth have had a few half chances but this looks like Chelsea could score four or five. Big blow for Chelsea as James had been fantastic today. Decent counter from Chelsea as Mason Mount’s low shot is pushed away. Pretty slack from Chelsea there, as they looked very casual and played themselves into trouble. FULL TIME – Bournemouth came close to pulling a goal back late on but the damage was done early on. This wasn’t the best Chelsea performance in history but it was all about the result.

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).