Blues eye Bournemouth scalp

Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick off: 5:30pm

Eden Hazard is refusing to give up hope of a top-four finish ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with AFC Bournemouth on Saturday (today).
The champions have gone some way to putting their dismal early-season form behind them, with two wins, one draw and three clean sheets in their last three games in all competitions.
Jose Mourinho is also poised to welcome back a handful of first-team stars, most notably goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who is on track to return to the first team following knee surgery and could be involved when Eddie Howe’s men visit Stamford Bridge.
With captain John Terry – one victory away from becoming the fourth player to reach 300 Premier League wins – having shaken off an ankle problem, Ramires and Radamel Falcao expected to return from muscular complaints and striker Loic Remy available again after missing last week’s 0-0 draw with Tottenham, Hazard is confident Chelsea can kick on during the hectic match schedule in December.
“We try to take game after game and win game after game,” he said. “We won against Norwich, we drew [against Tottenham] and we play a good game at home next week which we have to win.
“We want to finish in the top four and we know it’s difficult but we will try. We will continue to work hard and continue to take pleasure from our game.”
Bournemouth travel to London having not won a Premier League game since September, but Howe’s side will have been boosted by their dramatic 3-3 draw with Everton last week, when Junior Stanislas capped a remarkable late comeback to secure a point with a late header.
The south-coast club have struggled to cope with a string of injury problems but Stanislas hopes they will head to Stamford Bridge with confidence following that game with Roberto Martinez’s side.
“We are going to be buzzing for the next game now, although our heads never really dropped anyway because the last two or three games we played really well,” he said.
“It’s been hard with injuries, but with injuries come opportunities. We scored three goals against a really good team so we go into the next game full of confidence so hopefully we can get something.”
Bournemouth have something of a goalkeeper crisis ahead of the game, with Artur Boruc and Adam Federici having both visited a specialist to examine respective knee and ankle problems.
Ryan Allsop would start against Chelsea if neither were available, while 18-year-old Jordan Holmes has been recalled from a loan deal at Weymouth as extra cover.
Harry Arter (hamstring) is a doubt, along with Lee Tomlin (groin) and Marc Pugh (calf). Tommy Elphick (ankle), Christian Atsu (shin), Tyrone Mings, Max Gradel and Callum Wilson (all knee) remain sidelined.