Both sides have overcome recent spells of poor form to return to winning ways over the past week, with back-to-back victories for both the Cherries and Chelsea heading into this one. They are battling at opposite ends of the table, though, so another win for either today would be valuable for very different reasons.

Before we get into that, though, let's first have a look at the team news...

Well, the headline from the home camp is that Jermaine Defoe returns to the starting lineup this afternoon having missed Bournemouth's last two games with a hamstring injury, leading the line alongside Benik Afobe.

Defoe is the only player to have scored a Premier League goal against Chelsea for four different clubs, doing so for Spurs, West Ham, Sunderland and Portsmouth. There have only been seven previous occasions where a player has scored against an opponent for five different teams in Premier League history.

Defoe is not the only one celebrate a milestone this afternoon, though, as Asmir Begovic also makes his 200th Premier League appearances, which includes 19 for Bournemouth's opponents today during a two-year stay at Stamford Bridge.

Francis, Ake and Steve Cook will play in that back three for Bournemouth, with Smith and Daniels handed more attacking roles than they carried out against Stoke. There are eight changes from the midweek win over Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup, with Smith, Cook and Daniels the only players to keep their place.

Andrew Surman's opener against Stoke last weekend was his second goal in his last five Premier League appearances, which is as many as he had managed in his previous 81 in the competition before that - not that you would know considering how well he finished that one at the bet365 Stadium.

The defensive unit has been a lot less solid than it was last season, with Conte chopping and changing in a bid to rectify that. Luiz and Rudiger - the latter of whom opened his account for the club during the EFL Cup win over Everton in midweek - do keep their place in the side, though.

Marcos Alonso continues on the opposite flank, although Zappacosta is the only member of that midfield four who also started the EFL Cup match in midweek. Bakayoko and Fabregas sat out in midweek, but did start the last Premier League game and do so again today.

It is Alvaro Morata who will be the most likely Spaniard to score today, though, while Pedro will also fancy his chances for the visitors as both return to the starting lineup having sat out in midweek.

Hazard, on the other hand, remains an integral part of this Chelsea starting XI and he has scored four goals in as many Premier League appearances against Bournemouth - three of which have come in this very stadium.

The Cherries perhaps deserve more than what they have got so far this term as their performances haven't been as bad as their results suggest, but all that truly matters is their league position and, right now, that is a major concern for Antonio Conte.

However, they do sit 19th in the table, above only Crystal Palace, which could provide them with a glimmer of optimism ahead of this match considering Palace's only win this season came against a visiting Chelsea side. Just one point separates Bournemouth from safety as things stand.

However, while Bournemouth's Achilles heel last season was their defensive record, this time around it looks to be the opposite with Eddie Howe's side having shipped only 13 goals in their opening nine games - the best record in the bottom five and fewer than sixth-place Watford and ninth-place Liverpool.

Howe's side did the damage early in that match with goals from Surman and Stanislas, and they made it back-to-back wins on Tuesday with a 3-1 EFL Cup victory over Middlesbrough to send them into the quarter-finals, where they will face Chelsea, incidentally.

However, they have made their worst ever start to the Premier League season with only seven points from a possible 27 so far. At this stage last season they had 12 points, while in their first campaign in the top flight they had eight points after nine games.

Another victory today over the champions would make it back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since April.

However, only Swansea and Crystal Palace have amassed fewer home points in the Premier League this season, and the Cherries have only ever won one of their previous nine Premier League home games against London opposition.

Results in the 3pm kickoffs mean that the Blues will begin this match in fifth place, a full 12 points adrift of leaders Manchester City. Victory would restore that gap to nine, but defeat leaves their title hopes hanging by a thread with only a quarter of the season gone.

Indeed, the Blues are already three points worse off than at the same stage of last season, and questions continue to arrive regarding Antonio Conte's future at the club with persistent rumours of unhappiness in the camp. Could the Italian become the third consecutive title-winning manager not to last the following season?

The champions were on course for a third consecutive league defeat with Watford leading 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, but Batshuayi came off the bench to score twice as Chelsea eventually won 4-2 - although they needed to wait until the 87th minute to regain the lead.

This match sees chelsea looking for back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since September 9, though, which is a longer wait than you would expect from the champions and maybe too long a wait to expect to still be in the title race considering City's form.

The problem is longer-lasting than that statistic suggests, though, with Chelsea having kept only eight clean sheets in their last 29 Premier League games since keeping 10 in 12 between October 1 and Boxing Day last season - immediately after their switch to three at the back.

However, Conte's side lost their most recent trip - a shock defeat to rock-bottom Crystal Palace - to end a five-match Premier League winning run away from home, which was their best run since December. Another loss here would make it back-to-back away defeats for the first time since November 2015.

Four of their next five games come away from home - with that visit of United the only exception - and considering two of the last four Premier League champions have only lost three games all season, the same number as Chelsea have already lost this term, they cannot afford many more slip-ups in that time.

Chelsea will go into this match as favourites, but they are unlikely to have things all their own way. Bournemouth have strung together a couple of good results recently and their confidence is growing, although I still expect the visitors to come out on top.

SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Bournemouth 0-2 Chelsea

The Blues have won seven of those, including three consecutive Premier League meetings after losing their first ever top-flight clash at Stamford Bridge in December 2015.

The most recent of those came here at the Vitality Stadium in April when a Smith own goal, Hazard strike and Alonso goal helped the Blues to a 3-1 victory, and at Stamford Bridge there was another Hazard goal and another own goal - this time by Cook - to help Chelsea to a 3-0 win. Pedro was also on the scoresheet on that occasion.

The only exception came back in September 1988 when the two sides met in the second tier, with Bournemouth running out winners on that occasion.

BOURNEMOUTH STARTING XI: Begovic; Francis, Ake, Cook; Smith, L Cook, Surman, Daniels; Stanislas; Defoe, Afobe

CHELSEA STARTING XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Rudiger; Zappacosta, Bakayoko, Fabregas, Alonso; Pedro, Morata, Hazard

Daniels still gets there and pulls the ball back for Afobe, who sees his shot blocked by Luiz.

Begovic fires a clearance straight to Hazard, who in turn slips a pass through to Morata. The Spaniard only has the keeper to beat, but he steers his effort wide of the target when he should have scored.

The visitors have seen the lion's share of possession so far and have also had enough chances to be in the lead, but Bournemouth have held firm and are still in this match as things stand. They will need to show more going forward if they are to last for another 45 minutes, though.

The best of the lot saw him steer his finish wide of the target following a mistake from Begovic, but the keeper redeemed himself shortly afterwards with a fine stop to deny the Chelsea striker. Morata has has the ball in the back of the net, but his effort was disallowed for an offside against Azpilicueta.

It is tough for them as Bournemouth are leaving so many players behind the ball too, with as many as nine defenders packed into the box at some stages. It remains to be seen whether they can withstand the pressure throughout the second half, but Howe will certainly want to see more from his side going forward.

Daniels still pulled the ball back for Afobe, but his subsequent effort was well blocked by Luiz.

Morata should be dispossessed in midfield to start with, but he manages to spin away from a number of red and black shirts before lifting a ball over the top. Francis should cut it out but he misses his kick to send Hazard clean through on goal, and then the Belgian beats Begovic at the near post.

Begovic gambled too early there, presuming Hazard would try to hit it across goal, but the former Chelsea keeper was caught out.

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Eden Hazard scored the only goal of the game to hand the champions a deserved victory, with Bournemouth not producing their first shot on target until the 93rd minute of the game.

Thanks you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's late Premier League kickoff as Eden Hazard fires Chelsea back into the top four with the only goal of the game in victory over Bournemouth. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.

From me, though, it is goodbye for now!