CHELSEA 0-1 BOURNEMOUTH
Goals: Dan Gosling (£4.9m)
Assists: Jefferson Lerma (£4.8m)
Bonus Points: Aaron Ramsdale x3 (£4.6m), Lerma x2, Simon Francis (£4.4m)
Decimated by injuries, Bournemouth ended their five-match losing streak in style by getting their third away win at Chelsea in five seasons.
A late Dan Gosling (£4.9m) winner took the three points just as the goalless draw looked inevitable, disappointing the droves of FPL managers who own Tammy Abraham (£8.0m), Mason Mount (£6.6m) or Christian Pulisic (£7.4m).
VAR gave the goal, which came after Chelsea cleared a corner only for Jefferson Lerma (£4.8m) to head the ball back into the box. Although Philip Billing (£5.0m) was offside, Gosling was not and the midfielder hooked a shot backwards from ten yards out, looping in over Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5.5m) despite a failed attempt to clear the ball off the line.
Chelsea have suffered shock 1-0 defeats in two of their last three home matches, following the loss against West Ham. A side effect of Frank Lampard putting such trust in young players is this erratic unreliability, perhaps suggesting Chelsea assets can not necessarily be fully trusted with the captain’s armband or an attacking double-up.
“In front of our home fans, it’s clear now that we’re not playing well enough and not getting enough results. Up until now, a lot of it was not taking enough chances because we’d been creating a lot and giving away some silly goals. Today wasn’t a day where we created loads of chances. We created two or three great chances and we need to take them if we want to improve but we didn’t get the fans excited enough.” – Frank Lampard
Mount started the game brightly and was put through on goal by Jorginho (£5.0m) in the eighth minute, forcing a brilliant save from Bournemouth goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale (£4.6m). It was the first of many times that the former Derby County loanee got into the box.
On the other hand, the invisible Abraham was handled well by Simon Francis (£4.4m) and Chris Mepham (£4.3m). He ran to the near post to meet a Cesar Azpillicueta (£5.8m) cross in the 17th minute but could only hit the side netting. The same combination brought a glancing header late on, again missing the target.
Lampard made one change from the Champions League win over Lille and three from the side which lost 3-1 at Everton – one of four defeats from five league matches. Worryingly for the FPL community who may already be concerned by such form, he has strongly hinted at rotation over the intense festive period.
“There are options to rotate and it’s something I look at every week – sometimes it’s worked more and sometimes it’s worked less but I think you have to. Players have to show that they deserve to come in and make a difference, particularly in a moment like now.” – Frank Lampard
Perhaps the burst of five goals during Gameweeks 10 to12 was no more than a purple patch for Pulisic. After all, he had never scored more than four times in a league season while at Dortmund and, sure enough, the subsequent five fixtures have brought no goals or assists.
He had his moments, though. He reached a header at the back post in the first half, later providing a very dangerous cross that just missed Abraham. Shortly after, a shot from the edge of the box won a corner but – just as the American seemed to wake up – he was replaced by Callum Hudson Odoi (£5.5m) after 65 minutes.
Since scoring against Crystal Palace in early November, Pulisic’s period of blanks has amassed an xG (expected goals) number of 2.12. It could be worth persisting with him for a little bit longer, especially as Gameweek 18’s more immediate fires to put out include Liverpool’s non-playing assets. Away to Spurs next, Chelsea then host Southampton on Boxing Day.
As for Bournemouth, they were without Callum Wilson (£7.5m), Harry Wilson (£6.0m), Steve Cook (£5.0m), Adam Smith (£4.3m) and former Chelsea man Nathan Ake (£5.0m). Such a full injury room forced Eddie Howe into a formation change, brining Josh King (£6.1m) back into the fold following a hamstring injury.
The Norway striker caused constant havoc for the Chelsea backline. He was put through on goal several times in the second half, firstly choosing to shoot rather than square the ball after 51 minutes, before being denied by a fantastic last-man tackle from Kurt Zouma (£4.7m).
King was again fed by a through ball in the 66th minute, this time looking up and finding Gosling, who agonisingly failed to make the required contact for a tap-in. Soon holding his hamstring, Howe replaced him with Dominic Solanke (£5.2m) amid fears that the same strain has reoccurred.
Most of those counter-attacks were set up by Ryan Fraser (£6.9m). A star of last season, the winger hasn’t been close to replicating the seven goals and 14 assists that made him the sixth highest-scoring midfielder and an absolute bargain.
After twice going down hurt in the first 13 minutes, Fraser not only stayed on the pitch but ran the second half.
“The whole team did really well in the duel aspect today. Chris Mepham and Simon Francis really stood up physically for us.” – Eddie Howe
With enticing home fixtures for defenders of Liverpool, Leicester, Sheffield Utd and Burnley, many of Diego Rico’s (£4.3m) 13.9% ownership will have happily benched the left-back and watched in horror as he kept a clean sheet.
This was mostly thanks to Ramsdale and the five saves that earned him three bonus points. The early stop from Mount was impressive but his point-blank 72nd minute save was particularly brilliant, after a goalmouth scramble that eventually created an Emerson Palmieri (£5.5m) header.
It is worth holding onto Rico and starting him in upcoming weeks. Not only does he offer assist potential, there are promising home games against Burnley, Watford, Brighton and Aston Villa amongst his next eight matches. However, he remains one booking away from a suspension.
The exodus of injured Fikayo Tomori (£4.8m) is expected to continue. The young centre back has missed Chelsea’s last three league fixtures with a hip strain and, although they haven’t kept a clean sheet in his absence, this match saw Antonio Rüdiger (£6.0m) complete his first full 90 minutes of the season.
Frank Lampard will not look back fondly on his first-ever match against Bournemouth as either a player or manager.
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Zouma, Emerson; Kante, Jorginho (Batshuayi 78’), Mount; Willian (Kovacic 65’), Abraham, Pulisic (Hudson Odoi 65’).
Bournemouth XI (4-4-2): Ramsdale; Stacey, Francis, Mepham, Rico; Lerma, Gosling, Billing, Cook; Fraser, King (Solanke 75’).
