Chelsea vs Bournemouth
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick off: 4pm
Chelsea welcome Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge on Monday as they are looking to go one better after equaling the club record for most consecutive league wins with their 11th against Crystal Palace.
Chelsea come into this fixture looking to create a club record for number of consecutive wins after they equaled their previous record of 11 straight wins.
Antonio Conte’s team will also have Arsenal’s all time Premier League record of 13 consecutive wins in their sights ahead of home games against Bournemouth and Stoke City.
The Italian manager however will be without top scorer Diego Costa and midfield anchor N’Golo Kante for the clash against Cherries, who caused an upset last season, when they left Stamford Bridge with all three points.
The duo are serving one-game suspensions after picking up their fifth booking of the season against Crystal Palace.
Michy Batshuayi and Cesc Fabregas are likely to step in to fill in the roles vacated by the aforementioned duo, and the manager will be hoping that they will have the similar impact.
Costa is the league’s top scorer, while Kante has shown why he was nominated for the PFA player of the year trophy in debut Premier League season with Leicester City last year.
Eddie Howe’s team, on the other hand, are struggling for consistency this season but are currently in the top half of the table in 10th place.
They registered a shock victory against Liverpool only to succumb to Burnley in their next game, then they followed it up with a victory over reigning champions Leicester, but couldn’t maintain their run as they lost 3-1 to Southampton.
The Cherries boss will be hoping that he can get back to winning ways but will face a hard task against the in-form Blues.
Another disadvantage they will face is they will be without Nathan Ake, who has been one of their best players in recent weeks as he is ineligible being on loan from Chelsea.
Chelsea possible XI: Courtois, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill, Moses, Fabregas, Matic, Alonso, Pedro, Hazard, Batshuayi.
Bournemouth possible XI: Borus, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Arter, Wilshere, Ibe, King, Pugh, Wilson.