Bournemouth have been dealt a major blow ahead of the Premier League's return next week. Chelsea face the Cherries on December 27 but had to deal with a much weakened squad for their Carabao Cup match against Newcastle on Tuesday.
The cup's fourth round was held just two days after the World Cup final and left lots of teams in limbo, with players coming back from Qatar or without adequate preparation. Gary O'Neil's side only lost two men to the tournament though, Wales duo Kieffer Moore and Chris Mepham.
Both were back in the starting line-up against Newcastle after Wales crashed out at the group stage with just one point and one goal to show for their efforts.
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That looks set to be a bonus for the newly promoted side after Chelsea lost 12 men across the last four weeks. Although none of them were involved in the final there was an extra game for Hakim Ziyech and Mateo Kovacic, who faced off in the third place play-off tie.
Chelsea had six players involved in the quarter-finals but four of those have returned already. Bournemouth, however, have had an almost full squad to prepare with, but that didn't help them against Eddie Howe's high-flying Magpies.
Manager O'Neil explained after the game, “We’ve had a tough week, we lost 8-10 players through a virus. Everyone that was fit and available was here so we were a bit short. The boys that played and the boys that were here were excellent."
Bournemouth fell to a 1-0 defeat at St James' Park in the first competitive match with O'Neil as permanent manager after he was appointed shortly after the last round of matches. Things didn't go smoothly though, and with just a week until Chelsea host them at Stamford Bridge, there's an obstacle for the Blues' opponents to overcome.
"I named my starting XI twice and had to change it," O'Neil added. "It was a tricky week for us but it happens and the important thing is how we respond."
Chelsea have themselves been dealt a blow heading into the game with Wesley Fofana suffering another knee injury during a friendly played behind-closed-doors against Brentford.
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