Stamford Bridge is the venue for our final game of a year that has seen silverware won and memories created. We lifted the UEFA Conference League trophy in May and then showcased our quality on a global stage to claim the FIFA Club World Cup in New York.

A return to the Champions League was also secured – and our league phase campaign will resume next month with matches against Pafos and Napoli.

But Premier League action is the immediate focus for Maresca and his players as we prepare to face a Bournemouth side that held the Blues to a 0-0 draw at the Vitality Stadium on December 6.

‘It’s very important to finish the year in the best way,’ Maresca said during his pre-match press conference. ‘For sure, it will be another tough game because they are all tough in the Premier League, but we need to win games as soon as possible.’

Defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday was cause for frustration for the Blues. We dominated the opening 45 minutes and deserved more than a one-goal advantage at the interval.

That proved costly after the break as Villa, who arrived in west London having won ten consecutive matches in all competitions, equalised through Ollie Watkins and then netted a second in the final ten minutes when the striker headed home.

Maresca believes positives can be taken from the performance against Villa, but he accepts improvement is needed in how we manage games after conceding. `

He said: For one hour [against Aston Villa] we can take many positive things. Not many teams create as many chances against Aston Villa and in the first half they were 0.00 in terms of their xG (Expected Goals), so they didn’t create anything.

'I watched the game they played against Arsenal and other games they have won and they have always created chances. So these are positive things but we need to understand how we manage the game better when we concede goals.

‘We need to understand the reason why, because I don’t think it’s random when something continues to happen. So we need to understand why, no matter if we are winning, drawing or losing, when we concede a goal we lose a little bit of control. We need to understand why.’