Burnley vs. Chelsea
Venue: Turf Moor
Kick off: 4PM
Burnley will aspire to win their first Premier League game of the season at the sixth attempt when they welcome Chelsea to Turf Moor in this afternoon’s fixture.
The Blues do not have much to boast about domestically either, but Frank Lampard’s men eased to a 4-0 victory over FC Krasnodar in the Champions League on Wednesday.
With an out-of-form Burnley welcoming Chelsea to the North West on Halloween, the Clarets will be hoping to avoid another horror show following a truly dismal set of results in the 2020-21 campaign.
Sean Dyche’s defensive stalwarts have forged a reputation as one of the most difficult backlines to break down in recent times, but the Clarets have already shipped nine goals in the league this season and sit on just one point following four losses and a draw thus far.
Today’s fixture represents the second of two daunting home matches against capital sides in succession, with Dyche’s men becoming the next victims of the Harry Kane/Son Heung-min partnership against Tottenham Hotspur as the Clarets succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho’s side last weekend.
Even though Burnley currently find themselves below the dotted line heading into the weekend, there is no reason for the Clarets to become disheartened by results so early on in the season, but Dyche’s men would do extremely well to turn their fortunes around against a Chelsea side desperate to get back on track following two domestic draws on the bounce.
Huge expectations were placed on Chelsea’s formidable attacking contingent following a busy summer of spending, and the Blues frontline certainly combined well to put four past Krasnodar in Wednesday’s Champions League fixture.
Hakim Ziyech marked his full debut for Lampard’s side with a goal to cap off an impressive performance, with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic completing the rout as Chelsea ended a run of three consecutive draws in Russia.
Chelsea’s dominant victory in Europe means that Lampard’s men are enjoying a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions, although the Blues boast just one win from their last five Premier League outings following back-to-back draws against Southampton and Manchester United in October.
Had it not been for a spirited performance from Edouard Mendy in between the sticks, United could have very well taken the spoils at Old Trafford in last Saturday’s fixture, but Chelsea nevertheless managed to hold on for a point and will certainly feel confident of picking up all three against a struggling Burnley outfit this afternoon.
Furthermore, Chelsea have only ever lost once in 12 Premier League meetings with Burnley, and Chelsea came up trumps in a six-goal thriller by four goals to two in this fixture last season, with Pulisic netting a hat-trick on that day.
Burnley possible XI: Pope, Lowton, Long, Tarkowski, Taylor, Gudmundsson, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil, Wood, Barnes.
Chelsea possible XI: Mendy, James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell, Kante, Jorginho, Ziyech, Havertz, Pulisic, Werner.
