Burnley vs Chelsea preview, team news, kick-off
Johann Berg Gudmundsson to be assessed for Burnley; Chelsea defender Thiago Silva expected to be fit after missing out in midweek; Follow Burnley vs Chelsea in our dedicated live blog with highlights published one hour after the final whistle
Saturday 31 October 2020 12:46, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Burnley vs Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday; Kick-off 3pm.
Team news
Burnley, third from bottom in the table after taking only one point from their first five league games, could be without midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson for Chelsea's visit.
The Iceland international sustained a calf strain in Monday's 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham and will be monitored.
Defenders Erik Pieters, Phil Bardsley and skipper Ben Mee, plus midfielder Jack Cork remain sidelined through injury.
Thiago Silva will return to contention for Chelsea after missing the midweek trip to Russia with a 'maintenance issue', as Frank Lampard described it.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is also continuing his recovery from a shoulder injury but could also be included, although Edouard Mendy is expected to keep his place in goal as he targets a fourth successive clean sheet in all competitions.
The remainder of the squad came through the 4-0 win at Krasnodar without any issues, with Lampard explaining: "In terms of the rest of the squad, we don't have any clear injuries but we do have a bit of a tired group. We arrived back quite late, in the early hours of this morning, so I'll have to assess everybody to see how they've settled down and we'll see where we're at."
How to follow
Follow Burnley vs Chelsea in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel one hour after the final whistle.
Jones Knows' prediction
The temptation of getting 11/2 with Sky Bet about Burnley is just too juicy to ignore.
You see that Chelsea bandwagon over there? I am not on it.
Frank Lampard is one talented human being, no question, and he may have convinced the betting markets regarding Chelsea's current form but he has not tricked me.
I am yet to believe his Chelsea team have a thirst for defending on the road or have even found the right balance between attack and defence to the extent that they can be relied upon to win at 1/2 with Sky Bet away from home.
Remember, this is a team that have won just three of their last 12 away Premier League games and have kept just two clean sheets in 22 league games on the road under Lampard. Big swerve.
I was on minute-by-minute blogging duty for their 4-0 win over Krasnodar in midweek - a fantastic result, sure, but a scoreline that absolutely flattered them with two late goals against the deflated hosts putting unheralded gloss on the scoreboard. At 1-0 down, Krasnodar struck the bar and were the better team when Timo Werner fired home a very fortunate penalty award.
The hefty 2,000 mile journey back from Russia also is a huge negative for Chelsea to deal with, such mammoth trips have caught fellow 'top teams' out in their next fixture. The record of Premier League teams in their next game having played a midweek game in Russia since 2013 reads: P13 W2 D2 L9. That is a staggering statistic when you factor in most of those teams in question will have gone off heavy favourites for the match in question.
I can trust Burnley to take advantage. Do not be fooled by their winless start. Sean Dyche's men are as rugged and defensively solid as last season - as shown by their expected goals against figure of 1.03 per game which ranks among the best defences in the league. Spurs, arguably the hottest attack in the league on form, found it very tough to find a way through on Monday with Burnley restricting them to a 0.68 xG figure in the 1-0 defeat.
With their threat at set-pieces, Burnley are no 11/2 shots to take maximum points off Chelsea that's for sure.
JONES KNOWS PREDICTS: 2-1 (16/1 with Sky Bet)
Opta stats
- Burnley have won just one of their 12 Premier League matches against Chelsea (D3 L8), with that victory coming at Stamford Bridge in August 2017 (3-2).
- Chelsea have won five of their six Premier League away games against Burnley (D1), netting at least twice in each victory. Indeed, the Blues have scored exactly four goals on each of their last two visits to Turf Moor, with Christian Pulisic netting a hat-trick in this fixture last season.
- None of the 12 Premier League meetings between Burnley and Chelsea have been goalless at half-time, making it the most played fixture in the competition to always have a goal scored in the opening 45 minutes.
- Chelsea have won just three of their 12 top-flight games on Halloween (October 31st), losing last time out in 2015 versus Liverpool (1-3) - they've not lost consecutive top-flight games on this date since 1964, when the second defeat in this run came against Burnley.
- Burnley have lost each of their last three Premier League games at Turf Moor - they last lost four in a row at home in the competition in April 2010 under Brian Laws.
- Chelsea kept just their second away clean sheet in the Premier League under Frank Lampard at Man Utd last time out. The Blues haven't kept recorded consecutive shutouts on the road in the competition since a run of three in October 2018.
- Edouard Mendy is looking to become the first Chelsea keeper to keep a clean sheet in each of his first three Premier League appearances for the Blues since Petr Cech in August 2004.
Pitch to Post Preview: Jamie Redknapp on Man Utd v Arsenal; plus Liverpool's CB options, and will Everton bounce back?
Jamie Redknapp joins Peter Smith on this week's show to look ahead to Sunday's showdown between Man Utd and Arsenal and says there are more questions than answers at Old Trafford as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prepares for his 100th game in charge.
Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O'Connor has the latest on Liverpool's injury problems and discusses the young players who could cover at centre-back.
And Sky Sports statistician Matt Cheetham picks out the numbers which explain why Everton's defeat at Southampton could just be a blip, and makes his bold Pitch for what will happen in the Premier League this weekend.
Listen to the Sky Sports Pitch to Post Podcast on: Spotify | Apple | Castbox
