Diego Costa and N'Golo Kante
Diego Costa and N'Golo Kante will be absent when Chelsea take on Bournemouth owing to their one-game suspension Getty

Chelsea welcome Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge for the Boxing Day clash on Monday (26 December). The Blues are looking to go one better after equaling the club record for most consecutive league wins with their 11<sup>th against Crystal Palace.

Where to watch

Kick-off is set for 3pm GMT. There is no live TV coverage of the Boxing Day clash. Commentary and updates will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live. Catch the highlights on BBC Match on the Day on BBC One at 10.30pm GMT.

Overview

Chelsea come into this fixture looking to create a club record for number of consecutive wins after they equaled their previous record of 11 straight wins. Antonio Conte's team will also have Arsenal's all time Premier League record of 13 consecutive wins in their sights ahead of home games against Bournemouth and Stoke City.

The Italian manager however will be without top scorer Diego Costa and midfield anchor N'Golo Kante for the clash against Cherries, who caused an upset last season, when they left Stamford Bridge with all three points.the duo are serving one-game suspensions after picking up their fifth booking of the season against Crystal Palace.

Michy Batshuayi and Cesc Fabregas are likely to step in to fill in the roles vacated by the aforementioned duo, and the manager will be hoping that they will have the similar impact. Costa is the league's top scorer, while Kante has shown why he was nominated for the PFA player of the year trophy in debut Premier League season with Leicester City last year.

Eddie Howe's team, on the other hand, are struggling for consistency this season but are currently in the top half of the table in 10<sup>th place. They registered a shock victory against Liverpool only to succumb to Burnley in their next game, then they followed it up with a victory over reigning champions Leicester, but couldn't maintain their run as they lost 3-1 to Southampton.

The Cherries boss will be hoping that he can get back to winning ways but will face a hard task against the in-form Blues. Another disadvantage they will face is they will be without Nathan Ake, who has been one of their best players in recent weeks as he is ineligible being on loan from Chelsea.

Match Stat: Antonio Conte's side have kept nine clean sheets in their last 11 league games, conceding just two goals in that period.

What managers say

Antonio Conte: "Eddie Howe is a really good manager, very young and doing very well with Bournemouth. I like him and have great respect for him. I wish him a good career, a top career. If he continues in this way he can become a manager of a great team.

"I have studied Bournemouth and they are a good team with good organisation. They always try to play from the back and put on good pressure," via BBC Sport.

Eddie Howe: " We've had time to reflect on Sunday's defeat as we always do. We will try and come back a better team from it, we need to do better really and it's a good challenge for us.

"It will be a tough game and the run they've been on has been really impressive. They're solid at the back and free flowing going forward, but we can go into the game with confidence and we have nothing to lose," via BBC Sport.

Betting odds (betfair)

  • Chelsea to win: 2/5
  • Draw: 15/4
  • Bournemouth to win: 8

Team news

Chelsea

Possible XI: Courtois, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill, Moses, Fabregas, Matic, Alonso, Pedro, Hazard, Batshuayi.

Bournemouth

Possible XI: Borus, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Arter, Wilshere, Ibe, King, Pugh, Wilson.

Premier League