Bournemouth vs Chelsea predictions: New-look Blues won’t squash Cherries

Follow our free Premier League betting tips for Bournemouth against Chelsea on Saturday night

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Bournemouth vs Chelsea betting tips

• Draw and both teams to score - 7/2 William Hill
• Evanilson, Neto and Jackson over 0.5 shots on target - 11/4 Bet365
• Cole Palmer to score anytime - 20/21 BetVictor

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There is a real treat for football fans this Saturday with a bonus live game as Bournemouth welcome Chelsea to the Vitality Stadium (8pm, Sky Sports Main Event).

After their dramatic late win over Everton, the international break couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Cherries, but they do sit eighth in the league with five points and still unbeaten.

Chelsea, on the hand, recovered from their opening defeat to Manchester City to pick up a 6-2 win over Wolves before a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace last time out.

Bournemouth were trailing Everton 2-0 with just three minutes to go at Goodison Park, but goals from Antoine Semenyo (87), Lewis Cook (90) and Luis Sinisterra (90) completed the unlikely turnaround, which sums up the Toffees’ season so far.

This was their first win of the season after drawing their opening two games with Nottingham Forest and Newcastle 1-1.

History says that this unbeaten run is likely to end soon as they’ve never gone four without defeat to start a Premier League campaign before and Chelsea have lost just one of their seven league games away at Bournemouth.

The Blues are warm favourites on football betting sites to inflict a maiden defeat of the campaign on the south coast side, but Andoni Iraola’s men aren’t to be underestimated and this could be closer than the bookies think.

Bournemouth vs Chelsea preview: All square in the late game

It’s always hard to predict what Chelsea will do or even who might play given their massive squad, but this one has all the makings of a draw.

The fact the two sides have already played out three 1-1 draws in the top flight, while the last match at the Vitality Stadium ended goalless is a decent indicator of how this latest encounter might go.

We do expect goals though with the home side having scored five and conceded four and Chelsea having scored six away from home already and conceded five this season.

Both teams have also looked dangerous in attack with 15 shots on target for Iraola’s side and 18 for the Blues, so we don’t expect it to be boring.

Chelsea have also conceded at least once in each of their last 17 Premier League away games, shipping 36 goals in total and pairing both teams to score with the draw is how we plan to play this game on betting sites.

You just might have to wait for the goals to come though as the two sides have scored a joint league-high four second-half goals in the Premier League this season.

All four of Bournemouth’s have been in the final five minutes of games (86th minute onwards), while all four of Chelsea’s came in their only away game so far against Wolves.

Bournemouth vs Chelsea prediction 1: Draw and both teams to score - 7/2 William Hill

Bournemouth vs Chelsea tips: Trio to hit their mark

We’ve already mentioned the number of shots on target the two sides have managed this season, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the player specials available for this one.

Bet365 are offering 11/4 on Evanilson, Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson to manage just one shot on target each and that an interesting price given how open we expect the game to be.

Evanilson has managed two on target in his two games since joining from Porto this summer, while Jackson has five shots on target and two goals.

The biggest risk comes in the form of Neto, who is not guaranteed to start for Chelsea and is yet to register a shot on target in his three appearances. He did hit the woodwork for Portugal while on international duty though, so he is getting closer.

Bournemouth vs Chelsea prediction 2: Evanilson, Neto and Jackson over 0.5 shots on target - 11/4 Bet365

Bournemouth vs Chelsea tips: Palmer to be back on the scoresheet

With Cole Palmer being left out of Chelsea’s squad for the Conference League, to manage his workload, the Premier League will be the only chance he gets to shine, something he does on a regular basis.

The England youngster pulled out of the Three Lions’ Nations League fixtures with the Republic of Ireland and Finland due to ongoing fitness issues but after a two-week rest, he is likely to feature for his club side this weekend.

He already leads the assists charts this season with four and has also created the most ‘big’ chances in the league - it’s safe to say when he plays well so do Chelsea.

Since joining the club last summer, he is averaging a goal (23) or assist (15) every 76 minutes in the league, the second-best behind only Erling Haaland, who has managed one every 67 with Man City.

He was on target in the 6-2 win over Wolves and we’re backing him on betting apps to add to his tally this weekend.

Bournemouth vs Chelsea prediction 3: Cole Palmer to score anytime - 20/21 BetVictor

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