Twenty-four years after a run of defeats that cost manager Ruud Gullit his job and made for a bleak start to Gianluca Vialli's tenure as the Dutchman's replacement, Chelsea are at risk of losing four Premier League games in a row again when Bournemouth arrive at Stamford Bridge.
The Cherries are in encouraging form heading into the fixture, winning two and drawing one of the past three meetings between the sides, and Gary O'Neil would love a repeat of their 1-0 victory when they last visited Chelsea.
Bournemouth will begin the day in 14th and a win could draw them level with the teams in the top half of the Premier League, while Chelsea are desperate for victory as they chase down a nine-point gap on fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
Here's how to watch the action live as Chelsea and Bournemouth return to league action following the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
MORE: Follow Chelsea vs Bournemouth updates live
What time is Chelsea vs Bournemouth?
Chelsea play host to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge in London, England. It kicks off at 5.30 p.m. GMT on Tuesday, December 27.
Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:
Kickoff time | |
USA | 12:30 ET |
Canada | 12:30 ET |
UK | 17:30 GMT |
Australia | 04:30 AEDT* |
India | 23:00 IST |
Hong Kong | 01:30 HKT* |
Malaysia | 04:00 MYT* |
Singapore | 04:00 SGT* |
New Zealand | 06:30 NZDT* |
*Game starts on December 28 in these time zones
Chelsea vs Bournemouth live stream, TV channel
Here's how to watch all of the action from this match in some of the major territores:
TV channel | Streaming | |
---|---|---|
USA | USA Network, Universo | fuboTV |
Canada | — | fuboTV |
UK | — | Amazon Prime Video |
Australia | — | Optus Sport |
New Zealand | Sky Sport Premier League, Sky Sport NOW | SKY Go |
India | Star Sports Select 1 | Hotstar VIP, JioTV |
Hong Kong | 621 Now Premier League 1, 620 Now Premier League TV | Now Player, Now E |
Malaysia | — | Astro Go |
Singapore | — | StarHub TV+ |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: The match will be televised on USA Network (English) and Universo (Spanish), both of which can be streamed on fuboTV.
Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream matches live and on demand on Optus Sport.
Chelsea vs Bournemouth lineups
Hakim Ziyech completed 90 minutes for Morocco and Mateo Kovacic did the same for Croatia in the third-place playoff in Qatar 10 days before this game, so the readiness of both players will be under scrutiny from Chelsea after they played the maximum possible seven games during the World Cup.
Ben Chilwell and N'Golo Kante (both hamstring) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (calf) are out, but Carney Chukwuemeka (hamstring) and Reece James and Wesley Fofana (both knee) could return to contention.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is a doubt with a foot problem and Armando Broja is expected to be sidelined for around nine months with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
Chelsea confirmed lineup (3-4-2-1): Mendy (GK) — Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Koulibaly — James, Jorginho, Gallagher, Ziyech — Sterling, Gallagher – Aubameyang
Lloyd Kelly returned from injury to captain Bournemouth, with Jack Stacey and Jefferson Lerma also starting.
Chris Mepham, Ryan Christie and Jaidon Anthony made way from the starting side who lost 1-0 at Newcastle in the EFL Cup.
O'Neil revealed that some of his squad had not trained for 10 days because of a "really tricky" virus outbreak leading up to Bournemouth's 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
Jefferson Lerma, Marcus Tavernier and Ryan Fredericks were among those affected, while goalkeeper Neto (hamstring) and midfielder David Brooks (thigh) are yet to return to full training.
Bournemouth confirmed lineup (4-4-2): Travers (GK) — Smith, Mepham, Senesi, Zemura — Cook, Billing, Christie, Anthony — Solanke, Moore
MORE: Watch every Premier League match live with fuboTV in Canada
Chelsea vs Bournemouth betting odds
Chelsea were huge favourites to end their poor run against opponents who have lost their past three away games in all competitions as part of a five-match winless run on the road.
There had been 15 goals in Bournemouth's three most recent league games, while Chelsea had been part of contests containing fewer than three goals in five of their previous six fixtures.
Chelsea had avoided defeat in their final league game of the calendar year in all but one of the previous 19 years. Bournemouth had conceded the most goals from headers, corners, penalties and set-pieces (excluding penalties) of any side in the top flight prior to the return of fixtures after the World Cup.
UK (Sky Bet) | US (BetMGM) | Canada (Sports Interaction) | Australia (Ladbrokes) | |
Chelsea Win | 3/10 | -275 | 1.30 | 1.33 |
Draw | 17/4 | +400 | 5.13 | 5.00 |
Bournemouth Win | 9/1 | +725 | 9.00 | 9.25 |
Over 2.5 Goals | 8/13 | -150 | 1.62 | 1.65 |
Both Teams to Score | Evens | +100 | 1.93 | 1.95 |