Morgan Rogers says he would rate the beginning of his Chelsea career “10” out of 10, despite the Blues’ inconsistent form before Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Bournemouth.
Chelsea won their opening two league games under Xabi Alonso but entered the international break without a victory in three matches, drawing one and losing two. They were beaten 3-0 by Brentford in their most recent game and sit 10th, while Bournemouth are 17th with three points after failing to win any of their first five matches under Marco Rose.
Rogers’ personal form has been considerably stronger. The England midfielder has scored three goals and provided one assist since joining Chelsea from Aston Villa for a British-record £117m. Joao Pedro, with three goals and three assists, is the only Chelsea player with more Premier League goal involvements this season.
Asked by The Standard to assess his start, Rogers said: “10 – I’ve enjoyed it.
“I’m feeling as good as I’ve ever felt. I’m playing, contributing, scoring goals, assists, creating chances, as good as I have ever done in my career. So why would it not be a 10?
“It was time for me to take that next step and I feel like I want to be seen as one of the best players in the Premier League, one of the best players in the world.
“To do so, I needed to take that next step and start that next chapter.
“I need to play with the best players in the world and compete with the best players in the world, and on that bigger stage, and I just feel Chelsea brings that different level of pressure of having to win and having to perform in each game.
“I think people will judge me on a higher pedestal because of what I’m delivering. I want to show what I’m about.”
Alonso had hoped Joao Pedro would recover from injury in time for the match, but Bournemouth will also be without midfielder Alex Scott. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks after suffering a quadriceps tendon injury on his England debut, having played 70 minutes of the 7-0 win over Croatia last Saturday.
Bournemouth are reportedly unhappy with England’s management of Scott’s injury, although England manager Thomas Tuchel said there had been no wrongdoing.
“With Alex, it’s a strange one, I’m very sad about it,” Tuchel said. “He trained in full before Croatia, he did extra work after the training sessions. We knew he was having treatment, but there were only green lights from him and the medics.
“When we were aware there was slight discomfort during the match and asked if he wanted to come off, he said no. After the match, he said he could have played 90 minutes and didn’t feel an injury. It’s a strange one. There was zero risk taken from our side.”
Players to watch
Rogers has made 20 cross-option runs in the 2026-27 Premier League, fewer only than Gonzalo Garcia’s 32 and Erling Haaland’s 27. His 18 in-possession runs ending in a shot also rank behind Garcia (23), Bryan Mbeumo (21) and Matheus Cunha (18), while matching Cole Palmer’s total.
For Bournemouth, Rayan scored only his second goal for Brazil during the international break against Australia. Chelsea’s five league matches under Alonso have produced 22 goals, with 10 scored and 12 conceded, while his six managerial meetings with Rose have averaged 3.8 goals per game.
Match preview
Chelsea are unbeaten in their past nine Premier League matches against Bournemouth, winning four and drawing five; the last three were draws. However, three of Bournemouth’s four victories over Chelsea came away from home and are their only clean sheets at Stamford Bridge.
Bournemouth have begun a Premier League season with five winless matches for only the second time, after the same record in 2023-24. Rose is the second manager to fail to win his first five top-flight games in charge, following predecessor Andoni Iraola, who went nine matches without a victory.
Chelsea have conceded 12 goals, the most in the division, and could become only the third team to concede at least twice in each of their opening six matches, after Everton in 1994-95 and Derby County in 2000-01.
Opta win probability: Chelsea 51.8%, Bournemouth 25.3%, draw 22.9%.
