Written by billythekid

AFCB's Best Start In Premier League Since 2018-19

After our last away game before the international break at Goodison Park against Everton which had that Cherries three-goal comeback, all that can be said is 'follow that'. Our next game is back at Dean Court on Saturday, but at a later time of 8 pm as it is being shown live on Sky as was our previous home game against Newcastle United, which finished in controversial fashion as we know. This time our opponents are big-spending Chelsea. AFCB go into this game with an unbeaten start, last time in the Premier League was in the 2018-19 season, when AFCB had two wins and a draw.

AFC Bournemouth v Chelsea

They start the season with a new manager, their sixth manager in six years. This follows the departing of ways by mutual agreement between Maurice Pochettino and Chelsea football club after one season in charge. The first half of the season saw Chelsea in 10th position, but the second half of the season after a five-game winning run which included the last game against AFCB at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea finished in 6th place.

Enzo Maresca is their new manager, he left Leicester City after taking them back into the Premier League by winning the Championship title last season, after only one season in charge. Before taking his first managerial role at Leicester City, he was first-team coach with manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Maresca's first Premier League game was at home at Stamford Bridge against his old boss Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, the game ended in a 0-2 defeat. Chelsea's first away game in the Premier League was away against Gary O'Neil's Wolves, Chelsea were 2-6 convincing winners. Their most recent league game was at home against fellow London club Crystal Palace, which finished 1-1.

The last time our two clubs met at Dean Court was last September, the game finished in a goalless draw.

In all our home games in the league against Chelsea, AFCB have W 2, D 2, L 4.In all competitions, AFCB W 5, D 2, L 13.

AFCB Team NewsPhilip Billing could be available for selection after missing games through a back injury. Kepa is unavailable against the team we loaned him from, so Mark Travers will be in goal.

AFCB Player To WatchAntoine Semenyo seems our biggest threat at the moment, while our record signing Evanilson is still fitting into the Premier League and our style of playing.

Chelsea Team NewsThey made a number of signings, among them Pedro Neto from Wolves, for PS54 million, Joao Felix from Athletico Madrid for PS45 million and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester City for PS30 million. On the injury front, they have Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Malo Gusto, Omari Kellyman and Cole Palmer have all been out with injuries.

Chelsea Player To WatchIf he starts, Cole Palmer from midfield was the second-highest scorer and the same with assists in the Premier League last season with 22 goals and 11 assists. This season so far in three games he has 1 goal and is top player in the PL with 4 assists. Chelsea's top scorer this season in the league so far is 22-year-old Noni Madueke with 3 goals in two games, which was a hat-trick against Wolves. Another is a player we nearly signed, Nicolas Jackson, second highest scorer last season with 14 goals, also chipped in with 5 assists.

The RefereeAnthony Taylor who was one of the two English referees at the Euros is in charge of our game. In our first game of the season away to Nottingham Forest, we had Michael Oliver the other Euro 2024 referee. Taylor was the referee for two of our games last season, our home game with Sheffield United and last game of the season, away against Chelsea.

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