Chelsea vs Burnley 11/01/20

11 January 2020

Chelsea will be looking to extend their winning run in the Premier League (PL) H2Hs with Burnley to five straight games (W3, D1) when the two sides lock horns at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

Unbeaten in their last two PL outings (W1, D1), the hosts will seek to regain momentum and halt a two-game losing PL home streak against the side they’ve beaten just twice in their previous five top-flight home H2Hs (W2, D2, L1). But, the Blues’ indifferent home form (W2, L3) could be a major influence, especially considering they’ve drawn a blank in each of their three home failures in that five-game sequence. Although Franck Lampard’s men gobbled 36 PL points so far to reach the top four, only 38% of those points have come at home. Indeed, no team from the upper half of the table has collected fewer home points than Chelsea (14), and that’s mainly thanks to their problems in the final third. The Pensioners have netted an average of 1.1 goals per PL home fixture, scoring over 1.5 match goals in just four of ten PL games at Stamford Bridge this term.

Meanwhile, the visitors’ dip in form has seen them gone from two consecutive PL triumphs to three straight defeats, as they continue to hover only four points clear of the relegation zone. Notably, four of those five results (win/loss) in the above sequence have witnessed the winners on the day keep a clean sheet, with all three goals the Clarets have bagged across those fixtures coming on or beyond the 80th minute. By extension, none of Burnley’s previous six PL road trips has ended in a stalemate (W2, L4), with just one of them seeing both teams score. It will be vital for Sean Dyche’s men to keep a clean sheet here, as both of their PL away wins this season have seen them shut their opponents out. It will be equally important for them to find the opening goal, as they’ve suffered only one defeat in four PL road games that have seen them break the deadlock (W2, D1).