Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Bournemouth have not quite secured their Premier League status for a third consecutive season just yet but a five game unbeaten run has certainly boosted their chances of doing so, especially when before that many felt that they were in a spot of trouble after a run of no wins in seven.
They will look to extend that run to six this evening but they have got the hardest task of all as they play host to league leaders Chelsea at The Vitality Stadium. Their run has already seen them earn impressive away draws at both Old Trafford and Anfield, so Eddie Howe will now be looking to match another big club but this time on his own turf.
This unbeaten run has come during the same spell in which Tyrone Mings has served his five game suspension, the former Ipswich defender serves the last of that suspension and should Bournemouth manage to continue that run you do then wonder if and when he will make it back into the first eleven.
Their trip to Anfield on Wednesday was not a fruitless one thanks to goals from Benik Afobe which put The Cherries ahead while Josh King’s last gasp equaliser put a spanner in the works in regards to Liverpool’s bid to secure a top four place at the end of the season.
Liverpool were masters of their own downfall on Wednesday night but Bournemouth still had to take the chances presented to them and they did exactly so, punishing Jurgen Klopp’s men for their defensive lapses and coming away with a well earned point.
Their opponents Chelsea bounced back from a shock defeat to Crystal Palace last Saturday with an all important win over Manchester City on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge. It means the gap at the top still stays at 7 points at the start of the weekend.
But by the time Chelsea kick off the gap could be down to four as Tottenham play host to Watford at Lunchtime and will look to heap some pressure on Antonio Conte’s side. Many feel that the cleared hurdle of Manchester City is enough for the title but Chelsea manager Conte does not believe so.
He feels that his side need 18 points to regain the Premier League title and deliver a trophy to Conte in his debut season in English football. They were perhaps not at their very best in midweek but they outshone City and showed that defeat to Palace was just a minor blip.
There was perhaps an element of fortune to their goals on Wednesday night as Willy Caballero should have done better with Eden Hazard’s first and he will probably consider himself unlucky to have been beaten by the same person at the second attempt after initially keeping out his spot kick.
You could say it was a large slice of luck but when you are at the top of the table then you make your own luck, arguably they had a bigger slice of it when John Stones conspired to fire over the bar from just three yards in the dying moments of the game.
Regardless of how the goals were scored Chelsea were the better team and decent value for their win at Stamford Bridge, all they need to keep doing is keep this blue machine driving on. If they do their bit then it does not matter on Tottenham’s results thanks to that 7 point buffer.
Defeat last Saturday has certainly stopped this title race from being a foregone conclusion but it is still very much in Chelsea’s hands. I think their grip will be tighter come the end of the evening as they put an end to Bournemouth’s impressive unbeaten run and come away from the South Coast with all three points. An away win for me.
