Burnley’s home form
The Clarets have now collected 29 points from their 14 home games, which is the fourth-best home record in the league after Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. The list of teams that have failed to beat Sean Dyche’s men include the likes of Liverpool, Everton and now Chelsea among others.
There is something magical about their home stadium other than the fans, which provide a huge advantage to the Clarets. They have managed to get just 1 point away from home out of the 11 away fixtures. For me, the answer is their pitch size. Turf Moor is strangely short in width compared to most top-flight football clubs in England and it makes it difficult for most teams to play diagonal passes up front, which gets miscalculated almost always.
And teams like Chelsea, who play direct football will definitely find it tricky to get their tactics right. The purpose of direct play is to catch opponent before their back line gets organised. The short width helps Burnley to get back into shape within a blink of an eye and opponents get frustrated repeatedly in their attempts. Of course, we are taking nothing away from Burnley’s brilliant attacking display. If not for few astounding saves from Courtois, the Clarets could have been a deserved winner.
Chelsea’s wrong team selection
Antonio Conte’s team selection has never been questioned this season, since their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal, because the Italian boss has never set a foot wrong since then. However, lack of creativity in the midfield has been a glaring issue for Chelsea for quite some time.
It would not be wrong to claim that Chelsea had some really tight wins against the likes of West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough or even Hull City because Conte’s attacking tactics have hit a stumbling block on these occasions. Although they have scraped through, it is unlikely to happen on most occasions and Conte needs the likes of Cesc Fabregas in the middle of the park to make things happen.
The duo of Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante makes for a high-octane midfield, which is tremendously helpful in catching opponents in the counter, But, when teams are sitting back and happy to defend, they are massively ineffective.
Is Robbie Brady Burnley’s game changer?
Burnley went into the transfer window in quite a good league position with many critics stating Sean Dyche’s team to be self-sufficient. Neither did the Clarets have the money nor the need to stuff in more players and one can argue if not for the horrific injury to Dean Marney, Dyche wouldn’t have thought of bringing in another midfielder.
Brady was a hot prospect with the likes of Leicester City, Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham United, all trying to land him. The record signing has proved his worth (13 million pounds) today. There didn’t seem to be any way Burnley could have got past Courtois from open play, who is on fire at the moment. If not for Brady, Chelsea would have added yet another narrow win to their bank with critics stating them title-winning material.
