Chelsea’s next opponent hit with “a real bad virus”, confirms manager

Opposition watch: Bournemouth hit with a bad virus ahead of the Chelsea game

According to Evening Standard, Bournemouth have been hit by a bad virus ahead of the Chelsea game as the return to the Premier League edges closer.

The Cherries, who lost their Carabao Cup tie to Newcastle United on Tuesday, have had a difficult last 10 days due to a virus spreading around the squad.

Chelsea are set to welcome them at Stamford Bridge for their first league game of the second half of this season on December 27 (Tuesday).

Here’s what Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil said regarding this issue (h/t Evening Standard):

“We’ve had a tricky last 10 days.

“A real bad virus went through the group, so we’ll have to make a few last-minute calls on a few. The boys, some of them have missed real long spells with it, so up to 10 days.”

It doesn’t sound good when a virus spreads and hampers the preparation of many players in the squad. With the Chelsea game in six days’ time, the Cherries would hope that this goes away and they are better prepared to play the game next week compared to what they dished out against Newcastle.

On the other hand, Chelsea’s preparations have been hampered for different reasons, with Armando Broja suffering a season-ending injury during the friendly against Aston Villa, while Wesley Fofana picked up a suspected knee injury during the behind-closed-doors friendly against Brentford.

We are currently eighth in the league table, eight points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand. Goal scoring was an issue in the first half of the season, with just 17 scored in 14 games. That sort of return is of a mid-table team, and not of one who is chasing Champions League football.

After not having a pre-season with Graham Potter because he was appointed in September, the mid-season training camp would have helped the squad in understanding the playing principles of the manager in a better way compared to what they did amidst a hurricane of games.

More Chelsea News:

• Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana picked up an injury during the friendly vs Brentford
• Transfer News: Romeo Lavia more likely to join Chelsea than Edson Alvarez
• AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli on the future of Chelsea target Rafael Leao

We can hope that this preparation time will help the players and the coaching staff to conjure up a better plan for us to win games of football consistently.