Chelsea will host Burnley at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday, as the Blues look to extend their wining run to four.
Chelsea are hoping to extend their winning start to the Premier League season when they host newcomers Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday at 3pm.
The Blues, looking to make amends for their weak title defence last term, are currently fourth in the table courtesy of back-to-back 2-1 victories over West Ham and Watford.
Burnley, whose primary focus will be to avoid relegation, picked up an important three points against Liverpool last week after losing their season opener 1-0 to Swansea City at home.
Team news
Chelsea
Chelsea midfielder Willian is back in training after a calf injury and will be handed a fitness check ahead of the clash with Burnley.
Defender Kurt Zouma remains sidelined with a knee problem while boss Antonio Conte also has another injury worry, but he would not name the player concerned.
Thibaut Courtois, John Terry, Oscar, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa should return to the starting line-up after dropping out for the midweek EFL Cup win over Bristol Rovers.
Provisional squad: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Kante, Matic, Fabregas, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Costa, Begovic, Batshuayi, Pedro, Kenedy, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Aina
Burnley
Burnley look set to revert back to the line-up Sean Dyche selected against Liverpool when they visit Chelsea in the Premier League.
A Clarets side featuring 10 changes lost to Accrington in the EFL Cup in midweek and captain Tom Heaton, record signing Steven Defour and striker Andre Gray will be among those coming back in.
Forward Ashley Barnes (hamstring) will return after the international break while Liverpool loanee Jon Flanagan is not ready to play a full game so soon after completing 120 minutes on Wednesday night.
Provisional Squad: Heaton, Robinson, Pope, Lowton, Lafferty, Keane, Mee, Ward, Tarkowski, Darikwa, K Long, Marney, Kightly, Ulvestad, Defour, Boyd, Gudmundsson, Arfield, Gray, Vokes, Hennings, Jutkiewicz
Key Match Stats
Head-to-head
- Chelsea are unbeaten in seven top-flight matches against Burnley since a 1-0 away defeat 43 years ago.
- Burnley’s last win at Stamford Bridge came in April 1971. The Clarets have drawn three and lost six of their nine subsequent visits in all competitions, although they did knock Chelsea out of the League Cup on penalties in 2008 after one of those draws.
Chelsea
- Chelsea could record successive home wins in the Premier League, having failed to do so throughout last season.
- Relegated Aston Villa were the only side to record fewer home victories than Chelsea’s tally of five in 2015-16.
- The Blues have conceded at least one goal in each of their last 13 league matches at Stamford Bridge since beating Norwich 1-0 in November 2015. It’s their longest run without a clean sheet since a 25-match spell in 1960-61.
- Antonio Conte has lost just one of his last 32 league games as a club manager (W29, D2, L1).
Burnley
- Burnley scored with their only two shots on target to beat Liverpool last week despite having just 19.4% ball possession.
- Sam Vokes scored his first Premier League goal in his 28th appearance in the division.
- Sean Dyche’s side had the best away record in last season’s Championship, earning 42 points from 23 matches and losing just three times.
Key Info
Kick-off: Saturday, 3.00pm
Venue: Stamford Bridge
TV: None UK.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg