Will the Chelsea bandwagon keep on rolling? The Blues top the Premier League table by six points going into this Boxing Day encounter on the back of 11 straight league wins knowing that a victory over Bournemouth will take them nine points clear of the pack at full-time (before Manchester City and Liverpool play.)
The team who will be looking to make sure this run stops at 11 is Bournemouth, who are experiencing another very good season under highly acclaimed boss Eddie Howe. The Cherries sit in the top half of the table, and having beaten Liverpool in December already, will see no reason why they can’t overcome Chelsea as well.
Here are three key statistics ahead of the game:
11 – Chelsea’s good run
Chelsea are on an 11 game winning run, everyone knows this, but they are also on another good run that has stretched to 11 matches. One that is unique to the Christmas period.
The Blues have not lost a game on Boxing Day since 2003, when Charlton Athletic beat them 4-2. This was back in the day when Claudio Ranieri held the reins at Stamford Bridge and nobody had heard of Roman Abramovic.
Since then, the Blues have played 11 further times on Boxing Day, winning six and drawing five. Bournemouth, then, will have two 11 game runs to try and end.