Bournemouth’s Francis hails improving Chelsea

Chelsea’s transformation from fallen giants to Premier League leaders has been remarkable this season, and Bournemouth’s Simon Francis knows his side are up against a different beast on Boxing Day.

The Cherries have enjoyed a positive first half of the campaign and sit tenth in the table, but Chelsea are six points clear of Liverpool atop the pile – having won their last 11 games.

Bournemouth beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season in a shock result, but Francis knows the task is far tougher this time around.

“They’re massively different,” he said. “In terms of personnel they haven’t changed their players too much but they’ve changed their formation and seem to have a manager that they’re running through brick walls for.

(Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

“You would have thought you could say that about Jose Mourinho but for whatever reason last season that didn’t happen for them.

“We caught them on a day when we played some great stuff, we matched them and fully deserved the win. That’s something we’ll never forget and can draw experience from.

“They’re a different team this season and it’s going to be a tougher test. They have a couple of players out through suspension but it’s still a massive test for us.

“They’re over ten games unbeaten now, winning all of them; we’ll assess their weaknesses and where we can hurt them but also we’ve got to be aware of their strengths.”