Just three-and-a-half weeks after the two sides played out a stalemate on the Dorset coast, Chelsea and Bournemouth meet again in what is the Blues' final assignment of 2025.

We begin the day fifth in the top-flight table. Bournemouth, in contrast, are 15th and Chelsea have not lost at home this season to a side that has started the day in the bottom half of the table.

Victory over the Cherries, coupled with defeat to Liverpool, would see the Blues achieve a top-four ranking at the halfway stage of the Premier League campaign for the 20th time this century.

Both teams will want to make amends for disappointing results on Saturday. The Blues were paid to pay for profligacy in the opening 45 minutes against Aston Villa, as a second-half brace from Ollie Watkins sealed a victory for the visitors.

The Cherries were picked off 4-1 just down the river at Brentford, and their current nine-match winless run has seen them sink from second to 15th.

We have won four and are unbeaten in our past eight top-flight games against Bournemouth. And another trophy-laden year draws to a close, the world champions will be hoping to crack open the champagne early by getting back to winning ways and competing on multiple fronts in 2026.

Chelsea team news

Enzo Maresca does not expect Jorrel Hato to be available due to the injury he sustained in the half-time warm-up at Newcastle United.

Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia are longer-term absentees and remain sidelined, while Reece James and Cole Palmer's fitness will be assessed after both started against Aston Villa.

‘We will need to see how they are,’ Maresca replied when asked about the duo’s fitness at his pre-match press conference, which took place on Saturday. ‘Then we will need to decide [if they face Bournemouth].'

Wesley Fofana didn't feature against Villa. The French defender was an unused substitute, but Maresca said that was to 'manage his fitness condition' and he is in contention to play against Bournemouth.

The history

Chelsea have entertained Bournemouth 12 times across all competitions, starting with a 2-0 win on the way to promotion in March 1989. Overall, we have won eight and lost three.

The first top-flight meeting between the two sides came on 5 December 2015 at Stamford Bridge.

Jose Mourinho’s defending champions were a pale shadow of the previous year, languishing in the bottom half of the table. Glenn Murray’s late goal meant the Portuguese lost a home league game against a newly-promoted team for the first time in his career.

However, the Blues’ sixth victory from eight meetings with Bournemouth on all fronts came on Boxing Day 2016.

Pedro’s goal ensured the hosts led at the break and within minutes of the restart, Eden Hazard extended the margin from the spot. A Steve Cook own goal completed the 3-0 result.

A League Cup quarter-final in London just before Christmas 2017 looked like a prosaic win for the hosts thanks to Willian’s 13th-minute strike. Then Dan Gosling’s last-minute equaliser threatened extra time before Alvaro Morata responded with the stoppage-time winner.

A year on, in the same month, a late Gosling strike inflicted Frank Lampard’s third home loss in nine home league games.

After three wins in five at the Bridge, Bournemouth’s luck ran out in a 5.30pm kick-off on 27 December 2022.

The Londoners had lost the previous three league matches without troubling the scorers but Kai Havertz broke the deadlock early on and Mason Mount completed the 2-0 scoreline inside 25 minutes.

Finally, on the sixth of this month, the two sides played out a 0-0 in Dorset. It was Chelsea’s first blank since August.

Know this…

This is only the second time Chelsea have faced a Premier League opponent twice in the same month – previously drawing twice with Man United in December 1998.

The Blues’ win-rate at home to Bournemouth in the league is our fifth-best against clubs currently in the top-flight (55.6 per cent).

Chelsea have taken the lead 14 times in this season’s top flight but have conceded six equalising goals.

Only Wolverhampton Wanderers (84), Burnley (89) and West Ham (92) have allowed more shots on target this season than the Cherries (82).

Bournemouth have conceded two or more goals in each of their last seven away matches, including four at the weekend.

All eight of Bournemouth's Premier League goals at Stamford Bridge have come in the second half.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nico Gonzalez and Bernardo Silva of upcoming opponents Manchester City will serve an immediate one-match ban if cautioned a fifth time before the end of matchweek 19. Moises Caicedo is Chelsea’s only player at risk on four yellows cards.

On 30 December 1944, wartime Chelsea guest player Corporal Charlie Mitten almost missed kick-off at Crystal Palace.

His train was two-and-a-half hours late and he arrived in the dressing room just as the referee’s buzzer sounded. Albert Tennant made way for the Manchester United star, and the Pensioners drew 3-3.

The 2026 winter transfer window opens at 12am on Thursday 1 January and closes at 7pm on Monday 2 February.