Team
news, key stats and prediction ahead of Burnley vs Chelsea, live on
Saturday Night Football.
Team news
Burnley striker Chris Wood is a doubt with a hamstring injury.
Wood will be monitored in the run-up to kick-off but while Johann Berg
Gudmundsson has been ruled out with the same problem, Jack Cork and Ashley
Barnes should be fit after respective shoulder and groin problems.
Danny Drinkwater is set to return to full training next week after
recovering from injuries he sustained in an attack outside a nightclub in
Manchester, though he would not have been eligible against his parent club.
Chelsea will still be without Ross Barkley, N'Golo Kante, Antonio Rudiger
and Andreas Christensen when they head to Burnley.
The quartet remain on the sidelines along with long-term injury absentee
Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Opta stats
Burnley have won just one of their 10 Premier League meetings with Chelsea
(D3 L6), winning 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in August 2017.
Chelsea have scored in all 10 of their Premier League encounters against
Burnley - among sides they've never failed to score against in the
competition, the Blues have only played more games against Portsmouth (14),
Derby (14) and Wigan (16).
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is looking to win four successive league games
for the first time in his managerial career, with the Blues last winning
four Premier League games in a row in September 2018 (Maurizio Sarri's first
five in charge of the club).
Burnley have only won one of their 25 Premier League encounters with "big
six" clubs (W1 D6 L18), a 2-1 victory against Tottenham at Turf Moor in
February 2019. In fact, the Clarets are without a clean sheet in their last
34 such games, conceding 75 goals.
Both Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount have found the net in each of Chelsea's
last three Premier League away games, the last Blues player to score in four
consecutive appearances on the road was Diego Costa in December 2016 (four
games).
Charlie's prediction
Chelsea have been more consistent than I thought what with the shift of
Frank Lampard coming in and everything that came with it.
In essence, it was clear-cut with the transfer situation. If Tammy Abraham
scores he stays in the team and for me, Mason Mount is good enough to stay
in the side. Callum Hudson-Odoi has signed a new contract and so will
feature, Willian is back in good form and Jorginho has been great. Fikayo
Tomori is also playing well, but I am not sure whether the Chelsea
centre-backs have a partnership to cope with Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood
when they get the service that they do.
If there is an upset of the weekend then I am looking at this match. The
Burnley style may not be attractive to some people but it is so effective.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: Burnley 2-1 Chelsea (14/1 with Sky Bet)
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