Well as Chelsea look to set a club record of 12 straight wins on Monday vs Bournemouth, the news from the club Doctor and Physiotherapist for manager Antonio Conte could not be much better. In a stroke of excellent fortune there are only 2 Chelsea casualties and 1 of those is expected to pass a late fitness test which should allow him to play.

We are talking about the Belgian magician that is Eden Hazard who has returned to top form with an impressive 8 goals scored so far this season sitting only behind Diego Costa who has 13 this campaign in team goal scoring. After a sub-par season last campaign where he only scored 6 goals over the course of the season and took until January 31st 2016 to register his first goal of the season for Chelsea against MK Dons in the FA Cup it is quite the improvement. Hazard is suffering from a knee injury but is expected to pass his late fitness test and should be in the starting line-up for the Blues as they look to avenge their 1-0 loss at home to Bournemouth last season. Chelsea will need Hazard as we know Costa is missing and Hazard can be used in a more central role which he quite likes so Chelsea should have enough firepower especially as young Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi looks like he will also start against the Cherries.

The other injury is to Chelsea club captain John Terry who continues to be bothered by his gluteal strain and unfortunately after being expected to miss only a few weeks just 18-21 days ago his return date is now unknown. This is particularly frustrating for Terry as he has already missed over 2 months of the season. As mentioned we don’t know when he will return and knowing Terry he’s chomping on the bit to try to get back on the field as he would be anyway but especially as it is likely his last season playing in the Chelsea shirt you know he wants to be a contributor not just a cheerleader plus even more annoyingly for him he knows he can still contribute if he could get fit. The manager wants him fit as he knows how valuable Terry’s experience could be down the road if things get tight in the title race or a key defensive injury occurs so all at the Blues will be pulling for JT to make a swift recovery.

On the Bournemouth side of things midfielder Andrew Surman has a hamstring strain and has to undergo a late fitness test but is most likely to pass it and to be back in time to face Chelsea which is great news for Eddie Howe and the other good news for the Cherries boss is that Junior Stanislas is also facing a late fitness test but is also expected to recover in time for the Chelsea game as he also should shake off his ankle injury in good time. On the other hand the not such good news for Eddie Howe is that Lewis Cook is due to be sidelined until January 28, 2017 with his ankle injury so definitely will not make the Chelsea game.

So both sides will be without an injured player but as we know Chelsea will miss Diego Costa and N’Golo Kante through suspension while Bournemouth will be without in-form defender Nathan Ake who has been one of Bournemouth’s player of the year so far but cannot play as he is a Chelsea player and cannot play against his parent club.

So while Chelsea may be without 3 top players and Bournemouth only 2 players, it seems like the return of Eden Hazard will prove key and without the commanding figure of Nathan Ake who has been rock-solid and so influential for Bournemouth all season there will be room for the Blues to exploit with the likes of the in-form Pedro, Willian and the game-changing Hazard. So we expect as we said before for the Blues to still win the day by a 2-1 scoreline as we still expect the Cherries to be a stubborn opponent but Chelsea will have too much.