Football Preview | Burnley v Chelsea

Chelsea make the trip to Burnley

Enzo Maresca’s side sit third in the table, six points adrift of leaders Arsenal, as the Premier League resumes.

Author | Lauren W

Stadium | Turf Moor

Last season’s Conference League winners have maintained their strong run of form even without their talisman Cole Palmer.

Team news for Maresca's side

Enzo Fernandez opted out of Argentina duty after feeling pain in his knee, though the midfielder could return to action this weekend.

Benoit Badiashile and Pedro Neto may also be available, with Neto having withdrawn from the Portugal squad due to a groin problem.  The greater worry for Chelsea is the continued absence of Cole Palmer. It has now been confirmed that he will miss another week after fracturing a toe when he caught it on a door on Wednesday night.

Key stats and things to think about ahead of the match

Chelsea travel to Burnley with an imposing recent record behind them. They have taken victory on each of their last six league visits, scoring at least three goals in five of those matches. 

There are signs of growing assurance on the road once again. Chelsea have won their last two away league matches without conceding and will look to match a sequence last achieved in November 2021, when they recorded four successive clean-sheet wins on the road.

Chelsea have developed a habit of starting strongly in early kick-offs. They have won their last seven Premier League matches that began at 12:30pm on a Saturday. Only three longer runs have been recorded in this specific slot. Manchester United put together a sequence of eight between January and December 2003, Chelsea matched that figure between May 2005 and December 2017, and Manchester City set the benchmark with nine from May 2021 to October 2022.

A closer look at Chelsea's opposition

Known for their remarkable defensive resilience in the Championship last season, Scott Parker’s Burnley reached this point on their return to the Premier League with one of the poorest defensive records. Only Wolves, with 25 conceded, and West Ham, with 23, have let in more than Burnley’s 22 goals so far.

Seven of those have arrived in their last three outings. Parker’s side edged past Wolves in a five-goal contest, offered little resistance against Arsenal and then suffered a bruising defeat at West Ham, a result that left them 17th and clear of the bottom three only on goal difference. It is now just two clean sheets in their last 31 league matches, a run in which they have been conceding at a rate of a little over two per game.