Eden Hazard's first Premier League goal of the season carries Chelsea past Bournemouth

That is all from me for today, thanks for following along. IBTimes UK will be back in midweek to bring you the latest round of Champions League fixtures.

Until then, it's goodbye.

Bournemouth's seventh defeat of the season keeps them 19th, one point adrift of safety. They travel to Newcastle next.

Not a game that will live too long in the memory, but nevertheless a comfortable win for Chelsea that puts them back above Arsenal and into fourth on goal difference.

They are now one point behind Tottenham, four adrift of Manchester United and nine off dominant leaders Manchester City.

After that midweek trip to Italy, the Blues host former boss Jose Mourinho and United in their final outing before the next international break.

Full-time

Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea

The ball falls kindly for Steve Cook on the edge of the box, but his shot lacks direction and is easily held by Courtois.

Was that the last chance for Bournemouth to grab a share of the spoils?

Four minutes of added time signalled. Bournemouth do not look capable of threatening a late equaliser here.

Azpilicueta beats Pugh to Francis' cross before the Bournemouth captain is retrospectively booked for blocking off Alonso.

Nervy goalkeeping from Begovic as he races out of his area and needs two attempts to get the ball clear after a spot of head tennis with Willian.

You aren't playing for Chelsea anymore, Asmir.

Willian for Hazard is Conte's third and final switch. There is definitely one eye being kept on Tuesday's Champions League trip to Roma with these substitutions.

Chelsea's goalscorer gets a deserved standing ovation from the travelling fans. The best player on the pitch tonight, no question.

After a challenge from Bakayoko, the mightily impressive Hazard releases Fabregas on the overlap. He tries to beat Begovic at his back post but gets too much power on the strike.

Azpilicueta concedes a corner but again Bournemouth's set-piece delivery is not up to the required standard.

We know that is an area where Chelsea can be vulnerable.

With 78 minutes on the clock, Conte opts for a double change. Pedro and Morata make way for Drinkwater and super sub Michy Batshuayi.

Terrific last-ditch defending from Azpilicueta to block Wilson's close-range shot after a low cross from Ibe.

Having already seen Stanislas go off injured, Bournemouth are going to lose Afobe now too. Wilson comes on to make his first top-flight appearance since January.

Pugh, after ruining a previous attack with a rogue pass, cannot hope to take the sting out of a powerful right-wing cross from Smith and his header goes harmlessly over.

Hazard and Ibe both shoot high and wide.

Pedro then fires straight at Begovic after dominant Chelsea piece together another eye-catching passing move.

Junior Stanislas pulls up holding his groin and won't be able to see out the final half an hour.

Howe looks to his bench for the second time tonight, sending on Marc Pugh.

The first yellow card of the evening goes to Smith for a mistimed sliding challenge on Hazard.

Bakayoko shoots too high for Chelsea before Rudiger deflects Ibe's vicious drive over the crossbar.

Bournemouth are not out of this game yet, particularly when you consider Chelsea's recent defensive record.

A comedy of errors from Bournemouth as they are outmuscled in midfield and Francis slips while attempting to cut out Morata's lofted pass for Hazard.

Begovic then allows the fleet-footed Belgian to beat him at his near post. That's Hazard's first league goal of the season.

Goal: Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea (Eden Hazard)

Lewis Cook launches an early second-half shot into orbit. At the other end, Alonso is unable to provide a good enough cross for Morata.

The second half is upon us. One change at the interval, with Howe introducing former club-record signing Ibe in place of the isolated Defoe.

Half-time

Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea

Two blocks in quick succession thwart Fabregas and Alonso fails to trouble Begovic with a header.

No added time will be played at the end of this first half.

Vital header from Azpilicueta to divert Simon Francis' near-post cross away from danger.

Chelsea fail to take advantage of a nice delivery from Azpilicueta before Alonso absolutely drills a cross behind everyone from the left.

Super save from Begovic to deny Morata. The Spaniard's wait for his eighth goal of the season continues.

David Luiz is forced to concede another corner before Chelsea come forward once more.

Hazard knocks the ball back for Zappacosta, whose powerful strike is blocked by Andrew Surman.

This time Morata makes no mistake from close range, but he is denied the opening goal by the offside flag after Chelsea work a short corner and Azpilicueta tries to divert David Luiz's deflected shot past Begovic.

That looked marginal at best.

Tiemoue Bakayoko, with his freshly dyed blue hair, guides a header straight into the arms of Begovic from a Pedro corner.

What a miss!

Begovic's wretched clearance goes straight to Hazard and the Belgian tees up Morata for a close-range attempt that trickles wide.

That should have been a goal.

Chelsea force their opponents onto the back foot before Marcos Alonso's foul on Afobe offers Bournemouth some breathing space.

Hazard looks to provide a couple of dangerous low crosses for Alvaro Morata, but Begovic reacts well.

Afobe finds a big pocket of space on the edge of the Chelsea box but overhits his pass out to Daniels.

The former Arsenal striker gets the ball back and sees a low shot deflected behind by David Luiz. Thibaut Courtois comfortably claims the subsequent corner.

Antonio Rudiger drops a gorgeous cross-field ball behind Charlie Daniels and into the path of Zappacosta.

The right wing-back is then dispossessed by a cracking sliding challenge from Ake, who earns his side a goal kick.

Pedro takes a great first touch to speed away from Ake, but his long-distance strike sails high into the stands.

Steve Cook repels a hopeful cross from Pedro before blocking Cesc Fabregas' left-footed effort.

A tame start to the match, with both sides patiently probing in search of an opening.

A reminder that fifth-place Chelsea, lining up in a 3-4-3, are now 11 points adrift of Manchester City after the leaders beat West Brom earlier this afternoon.

They can go back level with Arsenal and just one point behind third-place Tottenham with a win here.

Craig Pawson gets the final instalment of this seven-game Premier League Saturday off and running.

Chelsea, kicking from left to right in this first half, are all in white.

After a minute's silence that is impeccably observed, we are about ready to get underway.

In other football news this evening, England have won the Under-17 World Cup by recovering from a two-goal deficit to thrash Spain 5-2 in Kolkata. More on that on IBTimes UK shortly.

Conte makes one change to the side that beat Watford in a six-goal thriller last weekend, with captain Gary Cahill making way for Davide Zappacosta. Cesar Azpilicueta dons the armband.

Charly Musonda drops out altogether as Drinkwater is named as a sub.

King and Fraser do miss out for Bournemouth, while Jordon Ibe and Lys Mousset drop to the bench. Defoe starts alongside Benik Afobe up front and Steve Cook also gets the nod in a three-man defence.

Callum Wilson is named as a substitute after making such an impressive return from his second anterior cruciate ligament injury on Tuesday.

Asmir Begovic and Nathan Ake both line up against their former employers.

Official team news on the way very shortly. Stay tuned.

N'Golo Kante is not ready to return for Chelsea, although Conte hopes to have the French midfielder back for the Champions League trip to Roma on Tuesday.

Victor Moses is still out with a hamstring injury, while the manager says that Danny Drinkwater "needs to find the right physical condition" after finally making his debut for the club in the midweek cup defeat of Everton.

Bournemouth striker Josh King is doubtful today. The Norway striker has missed the last two matches through illness and Howe revealed yesterday that he is now suffering from a recurring back injury that is not thought to be serious but will require a visit to a specialist.

Diminutive winger Ryan Fraser could also miss out after sustaining an unspecified knock against Middlesbrough, although Jermain Defoe is expected to be fit after hamstring trouble.

Long-term casualties Adam Federici, Tyrone Mings and Brad Smith all remain sidelined.

"There is a lot of b******t. If I see the past it happened the same with a lot of managers. A lot of bullshit. They try to create problems between me, the club and the players"

Antonio Conte certainly did not pull any punches during a fiery pre-match press conference on Friday when asked about recent media speculation suggesting that Chelsea's players are unhappy with his training methods and that compatriot Carlo Ancelotti is being lined up for a second stint in charge of the defending champions.

The passionate Italian labelled one particular report that claimed several disgruntled members of his squad had contacted former assistant manager Steve Holland to complain about his methods as a "lack of respect".

Chelsea will have to put all that off-field drama to one side today as they look to avoid being completely cut adrift from the title battle.

The Blues have won each of their last two matches after going three games without a victory and come up against a Bournemouth side that have not recorded a home triumph against today's opponents for almost 30 years.

Eddie Howe's men currently sit in the relegation zone after collecting just seven points from their opening nine fixtures, although Conte believes their position in the table is a false one.

Indeed, the Cherries appear to have taken considerable confidence from back-to-back league and cup wins over Stoke and Middlesbrough and will hope to use that momentum to inflict a fourth league loss of the season on a team that know they can already ill afford any further slip-ups if they are to have a chance of retaining their crown.