Burnley vs Chelsea. Premier League.
Turf MoorAttendance21,744.
Sunday 12 February 2017 12:27, UK
Antonio Conte will take a full strength Chelsea team to Burnley on Nissan Super Sunday as they look to maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
The Blues head to one of the toughest grounds in the country to pick up a result with the Clarets on a five-game league winning streak at Turf Moor.
Indeed, only the Premier League's top two have a better home record than Chelsea's weekend opponents and manager Antonio Conte is well aware of their threat.
"It will be a real tough game. Burnley took 28 points at home and one point away... They score a lot at the end of the game. The stats show that Burnley are a really strong team at home," he said. "We must pay great attention. They are in good form. They will want to beat us as we are top."
Burnley are in a comfortable mid-table position as they head into the clash live on Sky Sports, and could push into the top 10 if they manage to win on Sunday and other results go in their favour.
Their loss to Watford last weekend was their first in four games, and Sean Dyche believes his side are a strong unit since their defeat to Chelsea earlier in the season.
"It [the Chelsea game] was early in the season and they played miles better than us on the day," he said. "Beyond this result we've morphed into a stronger unit with a bit more experience and knowledge of what the Premier League is about - it doesn't guarantee a result but it does give you a better chance."
Coverage on Nissan Super Sunday starts at 12.30pm live on Sky Sports 1 with presenter David Jones joined by Alan Smith and Wales manager Chris Coleman and you can also watch all the action in UHD via Sky Q.
Not able to watch the game? Sky Sports still has you covered, with minute-by-minute commentary across all digital platforms as well as in-game clips, half-time and full-time highlights available on the mobile app and in the Football Score Centre with a free Sky iD.
Cesc Fabregas and Willian could be rotated into the Chelsea starting line-up on Sunday with Conte aware that the fine form of Fabregas and Willian gives him options.
David Luiz is likely to continue to play with pain in his knee sustained in a tackle by Manchester City's Sergio Aguero.
Burnley new boys Robbie Brady and Ashley Westwood are pushing to start, although Jeff Hendrick will serve the first of his three-game suspension after last weekend.
Dyche does not expect any new concerns but Steven Defour is still out with a hamstring strain and Dean Marney has had an operation on his cruciate ligament injury.
Burnley have never won a Premier League encounter against Chelsea, losing four of five previous attempts (D1).
Chelsea have won their last three top-flight trips to Turf Moor, last losing there in a top-flight encounter in August 1973 when they were beaten 1-0 by a Frank Casper goal.
The Clarets have only kept one clean sheet in their last 11 games against the Blues in all competitions, doing so in a 3-0 win in the second tier in April 1983.
Burnley have lost all four of their Premier League matches played on a Sunday this season, while Chelsea have won five and drawn one - the Blues haven't lost a league game on a Sunday since August 2015 against Man City.
Diego Costa's first Premier League goal came against Burnley in August 2014 - since then, only Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero (both 60) have scored more Premier League goals than he has (47).
The Blues have kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season (13), four more than they managed in the entirety of the 2015-16 season.
Only Spurs (32) and Chelsea (33) have more home Premier League points than Burnley (28) this season, while the Blues have the best away record with 26 points.
The record for the most home points collected by a newly promoted team in a 38-game Premier League season is 38, set by Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic in 2000-01.
Chelsea are 30 points better off after 24 Premier League games this season (59) than they were last season (29) and already have nine points more than they did at the end of last season (50).
Fabregas has created a goalscoring chance for a teammate on average every 22 minutes in the Premier League this season (24 in 526 minutes of game time).
The Clarets have won their last five home Premier League games - they haven't won six consecutively in the top-flight since November 1961 (eight in a row).
When you talk about Burnley, you are talking about one of the best home records in the Premier League - that is some going as not many would have said that at the start of the season. Chelsea's record against teams outside the top six is imperious, though.
Swansea are the only team outside those top clubs to get a point off Chelsea - Antonio Conte's men have put the so-called lesser teams to the sword. For as much as I admire Burnley I cannot see past Chelsea, they will have too much for them.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (11/1 withSky Bet)
Burnley are up against odds of 7/1 with Sky Bet to extend their winning home run by beating 2/5 favourites Chelsea, while a draw is priced at 7/2. The Blues are even shorter odds to win the Premier League while the safety of Sean Dyche's men were cut 12/1 to go down after slipping closer to the bottom three last weekend. Costa heads the first goalscorer betting at 11/4 while Andre Gray is considered the hosts' main threat at 10/1 to break the deadlock.
Burnley v Chelsea is this Sunday's selected Fantasy Six-a-Side fixture, with £5,000 up for grabs for the highest scoring team. Pick your line-up for free here.
