Chelsea vs. Bournemouth predictions: Making cherry pie of the Carabao Cup

It wouldn’t be the festive period without Carabao Cup games against Premier League opposition. Chelsea welcome Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge for a quarterfinal cup tie.

Maurizio Sarri and Eddie Howe both have strong reasons to put forth the effort for the Carabao Cup this season. Leicester City nearly knocked off Manchester City yesterday, so Bournemouth will come in with plenty of belief and possibly the strong squad to match. But we predict it will not be enough.

Barrett Rouen: Chelsea 3 – 2 Bournemouth. The young guys play and win, but Callum Wilson makes a good case for himself as well. Ethan Ampadu continues to demonstrate he should be a starter and entrusted with becoming our own Welsh Ramos and Eden Hazard’s protector.

Hugo Amaya: 3 – 1. A relatively easy game for Chelsea as the possession and goals will be on their side. For the first time in many games, the Blues will close this one out and put it in the bag. The false-nine is a new favorite for Sarri, so Eden Hazard (if he plays), Willian and Ross Barkley will get on the score sheet.

Meanwhile, the opposition will score a goal from a corner, but won’t have much breathing space and suffocate under Chelsea’s pressure.

Kevin Peacock: 3 – 0. The Carabao Cup remains Maurizio Sarri’s best chance of watching one of his teams actually lift a trophy, so he’ll certainly want the win. It’s obvious there will be a degree of rotation by the Italian, but Eddie Howe will possibly rest players as well. He may not want to put Callum Wilson in the Stamford Bridge shop window.

Chelsea will be too strong and will complete a comfortable 3-0 victory. I’m sticking with that scoreline until it happens. Goals from Olivier Giroud, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Pedro.

Nate Hofmann: 3 – 1. With all of the fixture congestion coming down the pipeline in the next few weeks, a Carabao Cup match isn’t what anyone needs right now. Fortunately for Chelsea, the Europa League has provided several chances to plumb the depths of the squad, albeit to varying levels of success.

Regardless, Maurizio Sarri has some options to fall back on.  Eddie Howe, on the other hand, doesn’t have that luxury.  Having fielded something close to a full-strength XI in their loss to Wolves last weekend, Howe will either have to bleed some seriously inexperienced players or risk running his starters into the ground with the busiest period of the schedule still to come. Either way, it spells victory for Chelsea. Olivier Giroud, Ross Barkley and Cesc Fabregas to score for the Blues, with the evergreen Jermain Defoe bagging a consolation goal.

Brendan McDonnell: Chelsea 2 – 1 Cherry Pie. I was so excited for this game, I actually had no idea it was on the schedule until this post appeared. Anyhow, I agree with Kevin that Sarri is going to take the Carabao Cup seriously so he can lift a trophy in his first season.

The news that Chelsea is interested in Callum Wilson makes this match a tad more interesting.  I expect him to play and score, but Chelsea are too much in the end. Pedro scores early and Loftus-Cheek scores late.

Abhishek Pancholi: 3 – 2. Whenever Sarri has rotated his starting XI, the players spend the first 15-20 minutes acting like they barely know each other. This will be the case again and Bournemouth will capitalize on a weak start from Chelsea. That will shock the hosts into action and some form of coherent patterns will start to emerge in their play. Chelsea will go 2-1 up, only to be pegged back by a late Cherries equalizer. Thankfully, Ross Barkley will bundle one in right at the death to win it for the Blues.

Gabe Henderson: 3 – 2. A dull game with tons of defensive errors incoming. Luckily, the brilliant passing of Cesc Fabregas and Loftus-Cheek’s strong runs will bail the Blues out, seeing them into the semi-finals. This match is a must-win as Sarri’s best chance at hardware is the Carabao Cup.

Tan Yi Hao: 3 – 1. The Carabao Cup is Sarri’s best chance of silverware this season and, as Gianfranco Zola himself has confirmed, Chelsea will field a strong lineup against Bournemouth. Nonetheless, a certain degree of rotation should be expected and I remain excited to see the likes of Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi back in midweek action, with the latter on the scoresheet.

Rupert Meadows: 2 – 2. Goals all round, and the B-team looks sharp going forward but can’t quite click defensively. Bournemouth win on penalties.

Scott Brant: 2 – 1. With Eden Hazard likely not playing, Fabregas will be hitting balls over Bournemouth’s back line to Olivier Giroud and Pedro. Giroud will turn one into the net and Pedro  will as well. If Callum Wilson plays, he’s definitely good for a goal.