Bournemouth have proved Chelsea’s worst bogey side since they were promoted to the Premier League

Since Bournemouth were promoted to the Premier League in 2015, only Manchester City have beaten Chelsea more times than the plucky Cherries.

Eddie Howe’s boys have provided the foil to successive Blues managers, boasting a stunning four victories in their last nine league encounters.

Indeed, many of those victories have marked the point of no return for many of Chelsea’s recent managerial casualties.

Bournemouth’s players celebrate the winner against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this season

With Frank Lampard hoping his side’s win against Tottenham will spark a revival continuing against Bournemouth on Saturday, he will be wary of the hoodoo as he looks to ease the pressure following a mixed run of results.

The former midfielder would do well to bear in mind his opponents have a habit of springing a surprise, as he well knows after already suffering at their hands this season.

But that was far from the first time that Chelsea have been stunned by their nemesis from the south coast.

Bournemouth have beaten Chelsea three times in their last four league matches, while they have previously won at Stamford Bridge three times. 

In 2015, just months after their arrival to the top flight for the first time in the club’s history, a late Glenn Murray winner sinked Jose Mourinho’s champions and the Special One was sent packing one game later.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea lost 1-0 to Bournemouth and he was sacked one game later in 2015

Chelsea players looked bereft after Glenn Murray scored 99 seconds after coming on

Eddie Howe celebrated what was then arguably the biggest victory in the club’s history

When Bournemouth faced the re-crowned champions in January 2018 under Antonio Conte, they ran riot, scoring three goals with no reply, in what was one of the worst defeats of his tenure.

It came on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run in the league, but it sparked a downturn in form as Chelsea lost 4-1 to Watford the following week, and would go on to lose an incredible five games in seven.

As is customary at the Bridge, Conte was duly sacked at the end of the season. 

Antonio Conte could only look on in disbelief as Chelsea crumbled to a 3-0 defeat 

Asmir Begovic posted a photo from the dressing room on his Instagram account after the win

But Bournemouth then went one better against Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea the following campaign in an incredible 4-0 win.

The January defeat was at that point the Italian’s heaviest in the league, and was only bettered by a 6-0 drubbing by Manchester City.

Such was the nature of the defeat, Sarri held a 50-minute inquest in the dressing room after the game and did not travel back with his squad on the team bus.

Chelsea fans confronted him outside the ground, forcing him to apologise for the humiliating display against a side who were then 12th in the table.

Sarri’s team would go on to lose three more games before his short stay in west London came to its bitter end. 

Josh King scored in a 4-0 thrashing of Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea back in January 2019

Sarri was forced to apologise to fans outside the stadium who had waited to harangue him

Sarri held a 50-minute inquest after the game and did not travel back with his squad

The Italian left the club at the end of the campaign and the loss was one of his lowest moments

This campaign, Frank Lampard has overseen a change in Chelsea’s culture as he hopes to put an end to the constant hiring and firing and promote a more youthful, academy-grown squad. 

But despite the tonal shift, he became yet another victim of the Bournemouth machine, losing 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in December amid a mid-season slump. 

The race for fourth place is hotting up with Manchester United appearing resurgent and Lampard will know he can afford few slip-ups between now and the end of the season.

Eddie Howe celebrated another win over Chelsea this season, this time against Frank Lampard

Dan Gosling scored an 84th minute winner, which was initially ruled out but allowed by VAR

The Chelsea manager looked bereft as his side succumbed to another defeat to the Cherries

Chelsea’s season is hanging in the balance with the chasing pack closing in on fourth place

A second successive loss to Bournemouth could derail his efforts, with United able to leapfrog Chelsea with a win this weekend. 

While many said this would be a transitional season for Chelsea, fans could start piling on the pressure for their young manager, particularly after their lack of quality was exposed so brutally by Bayern Munich.

Victory would stave off questions for at least another round of fixtures but Lampard will be all too familiar with the threat posed by the boys in black and red.