Thomas Tuchel will be looking for his first victory as Chelsea boss when the Blues welcome a revitalised Burnley to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
The capital giants were held to a goalless draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers in Tuchel's first game in charge on Wednesday, while Burnley will enter this match off the back of a 3-2 win over Aston Villa.
Match preview
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Chelsea had plenty of the ball against Wolves on Wednesday, with Tuchel making changes to the team's formation and indeed personnel for his first game at the helm; it proved to be a frustrating night for the Blues, though, as they were held to a goalless draw by the resolute visitors.
A second Premier League home match in quick succession will hand Chelsea another opportunity to put three points on the board, but the team's league form has been disappointing in recent weeks, picking up maximum points from just one of their last six matches at this level of football.
The London club were mentioned as possible title contenders earlier this season but currently sit down in eighth position in the table, seven points behind fourth-placed Liverpool and 11 points off leaders Manchester City.
Tuchel's side have three league games in a row against Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United before facing Barnsley in the FA Cup on February 11, while the Champions League also resumes next month, with the club drawn against La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea's recent form has been disappointing, but they have won five of their last six Premier League clashes with Burnley, including a 3-0 victory in the reverse match at Turf Moor earlier this season.
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Burnley's last and only Premier League win over Chelsea was at Stamford Bridge, though, with Sam Vokes scoring a brace as the Clarets recorded a 3-2 victory in August 2017.
The omens are not exactly terrific for Sean Dyche's side considering their recent form against the Blues, but the visitors will enter Sunday's contest in a confident mood, having recorded three straight wins in all competitions over Liverpool, Fulham and Villa.
The FA Cup victory at Craven Cottage came between a 1-0 win at Anfield and 3-2 home success over Villa, with Dwight McNeil and Chris Wood both scoring in the latter stages of Wednesday's clash to hand Burnley another three points during a vital stage of the season.
The Clarets have moved into 15th position, nine points clear of the relegation zone, and they might well be looking up the division rather than down as only four points separate them from Leeds United in 12th.
Dyche's team will be aware of the challenge facing them this weekend, though, as they take on a Chelsea side with the fourth-best home record in the league this season. Burnley, in contrast, have one of the poorest away records in the 2020-21 Premier League, picking up just nine points from 10 matches.
Chelsea Premier League form: LDLWLD
Chelsea form (all competitions): LWWLWD
Burnley Premier League form: LWLLWW
Burnley form (all competitions): WLLWWW
Team News
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N'Golo Kante has recently been absent due to a thigh problem, but the Chelsea midfielder is back for this match, meaning that Tuchel has a full squad to choose from for his second match in charge.
There could be a change of formation on Sunday, with a back four rather than a back three potentially taking to the field, while Tuchel is also expected to shuffle his pack in terms of personnel.
Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham could all earn starting roles, with Olivier Giroud, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech potentially dropping to the bench.
Timo Werner is also an option in the final third of the field, but the Germany international was not involved against Wolves and could again be on the bench for Sunday's clash.
As for Burnley, Ashley Barnes could again miss out with a knock, while Josh Brownhill is a doubt with the foot injury that he picked up in the win over Villa.
Charlie Taylor is "back on the grass and making progress", according to Dyche, although the defender will not be available for the Clarets at Stamford Bridge, meaning that Erik Pieters should keep his spot.
Jack Cork is in line to replace Brownhill in midfield, but the side could otherwise be unchanged from Wednesday's game, with Jay Rodriguez potentially partnering Wood in the final third of the field.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger, Chilwell; Jorginho, Kante, Mount; Hudson-Odoi, Abraham, Pulisic
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters; Brady, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Wood, Rodriguez
We say: Chelsea 2-1 Burnley
Burnley are more than capable of pulling off a shock at Chelsea, having recorded a 1-0 win at Anfield in their last away league match. Tuchel has had time to work on the training ground in recent days, though, and we fancy the home side to edge a tight contest at Stamford Bridge.
Top betting tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chelsea win with a probability of 72.57%. A draw had a probability of 17.7% and a win for Burnley had a probability of 9.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Chelsea win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.8%) and 3-0 (10.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.36%), while for a Burnley win it was 0-1 (3.83%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 14% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Chelsea in this match.
