Many football fans will rejoice at the sight of the Premier League returning this weekend, after three weeks without top-flight action, although this break hasn't come with its own drama to keep fans occupied.
Chelsea will be taking on Bournemouth, with both sides desperate for a win. Chelsea are without one in three after defeats against Arsenal and Brentford, and dropping points against Hull, whereas the story of Bournemouth's season has been conceding late goals, costing them points against Manchester City, Everton, and Newcastle.
These two sides rarely disappoint when faced against each other, combining for 25 goals across their last 10 matches, averaging 2.5 goals per game. We take a look at the last five meetings between the Blues and the Cherries.
Chelsea 2-2 Bournemouth, 30 December 2025.
When the full-time whistle blew at Stamford Bridge, it marked the end of 2025 for both sides, and it was an exciting end with all four goals in the space of 21 first-half minutes, but this game was also the last in charge of Chelsea for Enzo Maresca, as he left the club by mutual consent on New Year's Day.
Getting into the game, both sides were very attack-minded from the outset, with Bournemouth taking the lead after six minutes through David Brooks after Chelsea failed to deal with a long throw (sound familiar?) The Blues were to respond instantly as Semenyo was adjudged to have brought down Estevao, with Cole Palmer converting the penalty.
In what was his 100th appearance for the club, Enzo Fernandez marked it in style, putting Chelsea in the lead with a finish fired into the top right corner, 2-1 Chelsea, but the goals weren't done there, with Bournemouth scoring what would be the last of the game after only 27 minutes, Kluivert tapping in at the back post.
Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea, 6 December 2025.
The fans would have been glad to have gotten goals in the reverse fixture 24 days later, as this one was starved of goalmouth action, with Chelsea's Robert Sanchez being named Man of the Match, which probably showcased the attacking output on display.
The Spaniard prevented Antoine Semenyo from scoring, saving his penalty after four minutes, preventing the Ghanaian from scoring what would most likely have been the only goal of the game. Chelsea's best chance of the game came through Garnacho narrowly missing the target from a Neto cross after 50 minutes.
Chelsea 2-2 Bournemouth, 14 January 2025.
2-2 draws at Stamford Bridge seem to be an occurring theme currently, although the goals in this game were a little bit more spread out and even had some late drama, with Reece James coming off the bench to bend a free kick round Mark Travers' wall and rescue a point for the Blues.
Cole Palmer opened the scoring after 13 minutes, sitting down Travers before rolling it in. Then it became the Antoine Semenyo show, winning the penalty that Justin Kluivert would convert before dribbling past two Chelsea defenders and firing the Cherries in front just after the halfway point of the second half, but with one of the last kicks of the game, James would step up after being out for a period of time and make sure Chelsea came away with a point.
Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea, 14 September 2024.
This game will most likely go down as one for the history books with Anthony Taylor dishing out 14 yellow cards between the two sides at the Vitality Stadium, surpassing the 12 Mark Clattenburg dished out in "The Battle of the Bridge" in 2016, which, on record, seems a less violent game than this, when it wasn't.
Just like the game in 2025 at the Vitality, Bournemouth lived to rue a missed penalty this time Sanchez denying Evanilson, before Christopher Nkunku snatched the three points for Chelsea four minutes out from time.
Chelsea 2-1 Bournemouth, 19 May 2024.
In what was the final game of the 2023/24 season, this result meant that Chelsea were at least guaranteed Conference League football for next season.
Moises Caicedo kicked it off by scoring a wonder goal from near the halfway line to give the Blues the lead, and Raheem Sterling would double their lead three minutes after half-time, but it would quickly be halved with Benoit Badiashile putting the ball into his own net. Chelsea would ride their luck for the rest of it but held on to complete an unlikely European comeback.
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