Premier League: Chelsea Looking For Home Comforts

Chelsea vs Burnley

After a weekend of FA Cup football it’s back to the Premier League, and top four chasing Chelsea have a home game with Burnley to welcome them back.

Frank Lampard’s young team has rightly received plenty of praise as the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have stepped up superbly, and they currently sit in the fourth Champions League place. The visitors are on a sticky run and are in need of an odds-upsetting performance…but I wouldn’t entirely rule it out.

Premier League; Chelsea vs Burnley should, on paper, result in another three points for the Blues but Stamford Bridge has been a happy hunting ground for the Clarets. The recent Chelsea vs Burnley results in London have yielded only two wins for the Blues in six attempts.

Talking Points

Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge Blues

There is another glimmer of hope for the Clarets in their opponents’ recent home form. On Boxing Day Chelsea were beaten 0-2 by improving Southampton, and in their previous home game they lost to Bournemouth, the Cherries only win in their last nine matches.

Lampard’s men did beat Aston Villa, but strugglers West Ham won at the Bridge at the end of November meaning the Blues have lost three from four at home, and all to bottom-half teams.

They have faired much better on the road though; Chelsea stormed back to win a Capital City clash with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal recently, and Lampard’s team has a five-point cushion over fifth-placed Manchester United. But with Spurs and Arsenal now back in the hunt, SBOBET football fans can look forward to a frenetic race to the Champions League line.

Can Jay Rodriguez help Burnley avoid third consecutive defeat in Premier League? — Jay Rodriguez and Sean Dyche celebrate after winning against Bournemouth

Clarets aren’t comfortable yet

From a relatively comfortable position in the top half of the table, a difficult Christmas period has seen the Clarets drop to within four points of the relegation zone. A late defeat to Everton at Goodison Park and a loss at home to Manchester United were bad enough for Burnley, but failing to beat Aston Villa on New Years Day began to sound alarm bells around Turf Moor.

Despite dominating possession at 62 per cent and winning the shot count by 20 to 11, the normally mean Clarets’ defence was strangely generous and their strikers were wasteful in front of goal.

Those three defeats were all by narrow margins (United scored a last-minute breakaway goal as Burnley pushed for an equaliser) and head coach Sean Dyche knows how to get his team to bounce back.

Realistically the Clarets need another four or five wins from the last 17 games to guarantee a fifth successive season in the Premier League, and at odds of 5.00 to go down that shouldn’t be too much of a problem

Jay Rodriguez scored a late winner in a recent clash away to Bournemouth and he could start up front with eight-goal Chris Wood, while Ashley Barnes looks to regain fitness.

Kante can boss the midfield battle

While both Chelsea and Burnley have eye-catching players in both attack and defence, the midfield tussle will be an interesting one as N’Golo Kante and Jorginho come up against Jack Cork and Ashley Westwood. Kante was the most influential figure in Leicester City’s 2016 Premier League win, while Westwood has become the most important name on the Clarets’ team-sheet.

The former Aston Villa man has a real bite in the tackle, is calm on the ball and has a superb dead-ball delivery, but then Kante is a World Cup winner too, and alongside Jorginho should dominate the battle in the middle.

History

In their last meeting, an Autumn clash at Turf Moor, Chelsea ran out 2-4 winners in an entertaining match dominated by Christian Pulisic, who scored a brilliant hat-trick.

But here’s that big statistic to take account of when we decide where to go with our Chelsea vs Burnley betting tips. During the last six meetings at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have won two, drawn three and lost one.

And both teams come into the game with three wins in the last six in all competitions.

Betting Tip

	Chelsea vs Burnley	Burnley Asian Handicap +1.50 @ 2.04
	January 11, 23:00 (GMT+8)

At 1.29 to win the odds say Chelsea should coast this game, but that was also the case in their last four home matches of which they won only one.

Burnley are way out there to win at odds of 9.25, with the draw available at 5.40, but I think that maybe a step too far. The Blues are odds on with the -1.50 handicap at 1.89 but expect the Clarets to make the hosts work hard for a win.