Bouncebackability is a made-up word — “all words are made up!” — often credited to Shakespeare Iain Dowie, who used it some twenty years ago when he was the manager at Crystal Palace. Of course, he didn’t actually invent it; he only made it popular.
In any case, bouncebackability is the … ability to … well, you know … to bounce back, after setbacks or defeats. Not all good teams have this ability, but it is inherent to all great teams. On Thursday, the NFL’s Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys,
making it the fifteenth (15th!) straight time that they have followed up a loss with a win. That’s most excellent bouncebackability, matching the league record, and unsurprisingly, the Lions have been one of the best teams in the NFL over the course of that run (the last three seasons).
So now it’s Chelsea’s turn. Can we bounce back from the horror show of Elland Road on Wednesday night?
Date / Time: Saturday, December 6, 2025, 15.00 GMT; 10am EST; 8:30pm IST
Venue: Dean Court, Bournemouth
Referee: Michael Oliver (on pitch); Craig Pawson (VAR)
Forecast: Gusty winds, rain in your face, wonderful
On TV: none (UK); none (USA); Star Sports Select HD2 (India); SuperSport Action, Canal+ Sport 5 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: none (UK); Peacock (USA); JioHotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
AFC Bournemouth team news: The Cherries started the season like gangbusters, but after an eight-match unbeaten run took them into the upper reaches of the table, they’ve now gone winless in five, losing four. They’ve conceded 15 goals in those five games, so it’s pretty clear what’s gone wrong. It certainly hasn’t helped that our old pal, Đorđe Petrović has not been covering himself in glory — he’s the worst goalkeeper in the league at PSxG +/- — though he retains his starting spot for now.
Still, Bournemouth’s sustained success from last season is quite impressive, especially considering that they lost £200m worth of players over the summer. Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, and Illia Zabarnyi were poached by the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool, and PSG, respectively, while Dango Ouattara joined Brentford towards the end of the window. Those who arrived haven’t quite been able to replace those who left, but leading scorer Antoine Semenyo is threatening to have a career year and teenager Junior Krupi has made instant impact (three goals in his first two Premier League starts) after returning from his loan in the French second division last year, where he scored 22 times in 30 appearances.
Fellow new arrivals Ben Doak and Veljko Milosavljević have been ruled out, while Ryan Christie is dealing with a knee issue. Two big absences for the home side will be defender Lewis Cook, who, like Moisés Caicedo, is serving the second match of a three-match red card ban, and almost-Chelsea player Tyler Adams, who’s suspended for yellow card accumulation. He would’ve fit right in!
Chelsea team news: No new injuries for the Blues (so Levi Colwill, Dário Essugo, and Roméo Lavia the only ones out), though as mentioned above, Caicedo is still suspended and Cole Palmer is still just coming back into fitness.
Enzo Maresca has shown some tough love for (some of) the players in the media, so hopefully that pays off with the correct response from the whole squad: bouncebackability!
“Most of the rotation we do is because the other one they cannot play. But […] in football, in life, in any job, there is a level. Andrey [Santos] unfortunately is not Moi [Caicedo]. Tosin is not Wes. They have different skills. They are different.
“If I say to you that Andrey is like Moi, you can understand for yourself that I am a liar. There is a level at all jobs. Like me. Plenty of managers are better than me. Some not. But there is a level at all jobs. So, for me, [this] is the reality.”
“We are in a process where we are trying to understand and to learn why, for instance, at Leeds we were not good enough. I don’t know if the solution is to have 12 or 14 players and the rest just play some minutes. But we are trying to understand. If today you play every three days, two days like now with the same 11, I don’t know [if it’s possible].
“I would like to play Reece [James] every game. He is much better. He is already playing two games a week, he needs to aim three games a week. So he is already improving in that. But I also would like Moi not suspended or Wes every game.”
-Enzo Maresca; source: The Standard
So, those who get picked for this game better deliver, and those don’t, better step up their game.
Previously: Bournemouth were a bit of a bogey team for us for a while, but we’ve not lost in the last seven against them, winning four. This fixture last year was decided by a late goal from Christopher Nkunku, of all people, after Robert Sánchez saved Evanilson’s penalty in the first half.
