Bournemouth vs Chelsea Bet Builder Tips: Lewis lunges help Cook up 6/1 Vitality shot

Bournemouth’s winless start to the 2024/25 season looked destined to continue last time out at Goodison Park, where the Cherries were two goals down heading into the final stages before an 87th-minute Antoine Semenyo strike lifted the visitors and propelled them to a dramatic 3-2 win on Merseyside.

Andoni Iraola’s side now go looking for their first home win of the campaign on Saturday (20:00, Sky Sports Main Event) when they host Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea at the Vitality Stadium, where the sides played out a goalless draw almost a year to the day.

Bournemouth vs Chelsea Odds

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Bournemouth Over 11.5 Shots

Bournemouth may have only won once so far this season but they are unbeaten after kicking things off with a couple of 1-1 draws against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United, and they have scored five goals across their three Premier League matches, netting in each one.

The Cherries have been relentless in their pursuit of goals, shooting 13, 16 and 17 times respectively against Forest, Newcastle and Everton. Of course, the fact that they were losing to both Forest and Everton can probably explain their high shot numbers at the City Ground and Goodison Park, but they took the lead in the 37th minute against Newcastle and still registered 11 efforts in the second half, with the Magpies only equalising in the 77th minute.

Bournemouth shot 13 times against Chelsea in the corresponding fixture last season and upped that total by nine in the reverse contest at Stamford Bridge in May.

Chelsea conceded 11 shots to Manchester City, 12 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and nine to Palace, as well as 22 in the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off first leg against Swiss side Servette, and 15 in the return leg, so I think 12 shots for Bournemouth on Saturday night is more than achievable.

Antoine Semenyo 1+ Shots on Target

Antoine Semenyo scored eight times in the Premier League last season and is already a quarter of the way to that tally this term, netting against Forest and Everton. He’s averaging a mammoth 5.7 shots per game, and 1.3 shots on target per game – in the only game he failed to hit the target, the draw with Newcastle, he hit the woodwork.

With Brazilian striker Evanilson still finding his feet in English football following his big-money summer move from Porto, the main goalscoring responsibility lies with Semenyo, and he looks to be thriving under the pressure.

The 24-year-old was an unused substitute against Chelsea at the Vitality last season but started at Stamford Bridge in May and fired off three shots, forcing an early save from Dorde Petrovic with one, and he will be a big danger to the Blues back line once again this weekend.

Cole Palmer Anytime Scorer

Cole Palmer was left out of the England squad for their recent internationals against the Republic of Ireland and Finland to continue his rehabilitation from an injury issue, but the 22-year-old took part in full training this week and is set to start on the south coast tomorrow.

Palmer has only scored once so far this term, against Wolves in a 6-2 win at Molineux, so he will be desperate to add to his tally this weekend.

The Man City Academy graduate hasn’t been named in Chelsea’s Europa Conference League squad so should play the full 90-plus minutes against Bournemouth, heightening his chances of finding the net.

He also takes free-kicks and penalties – he’s yet to miss a spot-kick – and so is always a great pick in the anytime scorer market.

Bournemouth were one of the few clubs Palmer failed to fire past last season, so there is an added incentive to get on the scoresheet on Saturday.

Lewis Cook 2+ Fouls

The fourth and final leg of this bet builder involves Cherries midfielder Lewis Cook, who has been a busy boy in the Bournemouth engine room this season.

The 27-year-old is averaging three fouls per game having made two, five and two respectively against Forest, Newcastle and Everton, receiving a yellow in his side’s opening fixture at the City Ground.

Cook made a whopping four fouls in this fixture at the Vitality last season and followed it up with one at Stamford Bridge five months ago, so another couple on Saturday looks like the way to go to bring this bet builder up to 6/1.

Football Odds

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