Jimmy
Floyd Hasselbaink believes Chelsea's rivals for the title should not take
too much encouragement from the league leaders' draw at Burnley.
Antonio Conte's side took the lead at Turf Moor on Sunday with an early goal
from Pedro, but Robbie Brady earned a share of the points for the Clarets
with a spectacular free-kick.
Burnley have only lost three Premier League games at home this season, to
Swansea, Arsenal and Manchester City, and still have to entertain title
contenders Tottenham and top-four hopefuls Manchester United.
Hasselbaink, who played for Chelsea between 2000 and 2004, is confident
Conte's team will not be knocked out of their stride.
"It's a good point for me, at Burnley. It's a difficult place to go. You
have to give Burnley credit because not a lot of teams go there and win,
only Man City and Arsenal, who were quite lucky," Hasselbaink said on
Premier League Daily.
"So for Chelsea to go there, winning 1-0 and then they score a stunner, I
think it's a good result. Man United still have to go there, Tottenham still
have to go there, so it's not going to be easy.
"Chelsea have found a way of how to play, and they are very calm and relaxed
within that, very confident. I don't see them losing three games out of the
13 games they have left.
"Also, they don't have any European games, they only have the FA Cup and the
Premier League, so they can concentrate in midweek, from Saturday to
Saturday and really prepare. I think they will be too far ahead for the
others."
The form of Chelsea striker Diego Costa has come under examination after a
January move to China failed to materialise.
The Spain international has scored just one goal in six games this year, and
missed a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, but Hasselbaink
does not believe there is any cause for concern.
"Always as a striker you get those little spells where you don't score, you
have to look at the attributes, at the amount of work he does and how much
he creates," Hasselbaink said.
"He's missed a penalty but that can happen. But for me, pound for pound he's
the best striker at the moment in the Premier League."
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