All eyes will be on Burnley as they attempt the improbable act of stopping Chelsea by pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the season. Most have tried and failed and it will need Chelsea to be at their worst and Burnley to tick all the boxes for anything of that sort to happen. Despite all the insistence from Antonio Conte – and indeed the managers of rival teams – that the title race is not over, it would take a dramatic collapse for Chelsea to throw it all away now. 9 points ahead of 2nd placed Spurs, they will be fairly confident but Conte has to make sure they do not get complacent. Burnley have been at their best at home and if they can replicate their home form, there might be a surprise in store for us. If the Clarets can keep Chelsea at bay for the first half, things might get interesting.
TRIVIA
- Burnley have never won a Premier League encounter against Chelsea, losing four of five previous attempts (D1).
- Chelsea have won their last three top-flight trips to Turf Moor, last losing there in a top-flight encounter in August 1973 when they were beaten 1-0 by a Frank Casper goal.
- The Clarets have only kept one clean sheet in their last 11 games against the Blues in all competitions, doing so in a 3-0 win in the second tier in April 1983.
- Burnley have lost all four of their Premier League matches played on a Sunday this season, while Chelsea have won five and drawn one – the Blues haven’t lost a league game on a Sunday since August 2015 against Man City.
- Diego Costa’s first Premier League goal came against Burnley in August 2014 – since then, only Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero (both 60) have scored more Premier League goals than he has (47).
- The Blues have kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season (13), four more than they managed in the entirety of the 2015-16 season.
- Only Spurs (32) and Chelsea (33) have more home Premier League points than Burnley (28) this season, while the Blues have the best away record with 26 points.
- The record for the most home points collected by a newly promoted team in a 38-game Premier League season is 38, set by Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic in 2000-01.
- Chelsea are 30 points better off after 24 Premier League games this season (59) than they were last season (29) and already have nine points more than they did at the end of last season (50).
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
BURNLEY (4-4-2)
Sean Dyche will be without the suspended Jeff Hendrick for the visit of Chelsea to Turf Moor, so new signings Robbie Brady and Ashley Westwood are likely to be in contention to make their first start. Dean Marney is a long-term absentee, while Steven Defour (hamstring) is expected to miss out.
Heaton; Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward; Boyd, Arfield, Barton, Brady; Barnes, Gray
CHELSEA (3-4-3)
Chelsea’s only injury concern heading to Turf Moor surrounds Hazard, who will undergo a late fitness test on a calf problem having returned to goalscoring form against Arsenal. The rest of the players are available.
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso; Hazard, Costa, Pedro
BETTING ODDS
BURNLEY- 8/1
DRAW- 4/1
CHELSEA- 2/5
TRIVIA COURTESY- OPTA
