Chelsea V Burnley

English Premiership 2009/2010 – Game Week 4

Chelsea V Burnley

Kick-Off: Saturday 29^th August – 12:45 GMT

Venue: Stamford Bridge

TV Coverage: Sky Sports

Chelsea

League Position: 2nd

Recent Form: WWW

Chelsea continued their rich vein of form after securing their third successive victory of the season away at Fulham last Sunday. Chelsea showed no fear as they entered one of the many London derby’s as they simply brushed Fulham a-side, winning 2-0 in a comfortable manner. A big positive to take from that game was the performance of their striking duet of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba. The pair each left their mark on Craven Cottage with a goal-a-piece, sending out a message to the many critics who were claiming the pair simply cannot play together. They certainly left the doubters with egg on their face after the pair, for once, looked to be on the same wavelength and if they can keep up the momentum they have gathered then they could become one of the more deadlier striking partnerships of the season.

What was scary about Chelsea’s victory over Fulham was that they never looked like relinquishing any points. Fulham barely troubled the Chelsea goal and it was Chelsea who looked far the more deadlier of the two in the attacking third. That’s unsurprising considering the talent Chelsea had on show – Frank Lampard, Deco, Florent Malouda, Michael Ballack, and that’s just their midfield. Chelsea really are the complete package with a midfield that can easily score from anywhere on the pitch, a defence that will keep many clean sheets throughout the course of the season and two of the most prolific strikers the Premiership has ever seen. The bookies have made them very short priced favourites to win the title this season and their early performances have shown justification in the bookies reasoning for shortening Chelsea’s odds for the title.

Burnley

League Position: 7^th Position

Recent Form: LWW

Burnley fans must feel they are on cloud nine right now. Victory in their inaugural home game in their début Premiership season against last seasons champions felt more like fate and Burnley fully deserved their victory after a valiant display against Man Utd. However, they backed up their fine performance in midweek with another vintage display against Everton on Sunday. Wade Elliott’s goal midway through the first half sent the Burnley fans into raptures and was enough to secure Burnley’s second 1-0 victory within the space of a week and lift the team into seventh position. Can they be the new Hull? If so, we all know how they panned out.

Although Burnley have shown some terrific team spirit recently as well some fine team displays, we can’t see them getting anywhere near Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this Saturday. I wouldn’t like to say they got lucky against United & Everton as they didn’t, far from it, but Owen Coyle obviously had the players fired up for both those encounters and they duly delivered, but the players were thriving on the fantastic atmosphere of their home crowd and they will be without that here. They were made to look ordinary on the opening day when they went down 2-0 away at Stoke and we mustn’t forget that those two stunning performances against Man Utd & Everton both came at home, where they had the full backing of a capacity home crowd. They won’t have that luxury on Saturday and we expect Burnley to struggle.

Head-to-Head:

The two teams have yet to meet in a competitive match. However, the pair did meet in last seasons Carling Cup. A game which ended in 1-1 draw, of which, Burnley went on to win via a penalty shoot-out. Chelsea put a fairly strong side out that night but they were struggling for confidence at the time under Phil Scolari, who evidentially didn’t last long at Chelsea.

Match Verdict: Chelsea to cruise to a fourth successive victory – 1/6 Boylesports

Some will be optimistic and have a cheeky punt on Burnley causing Chelsea a few problems but we really would be surprised if Chelsea didn’t give Burnley a good spanking at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea will have learnt a lot from their opening home game of the season when they beat Hull City 2-1 by the skin of their teeth. Carlo Ancelotti appears to have adjusted to the physical style of the English league already and this Chelsea team is well equipped to handle a Burnley side running on nostalgia. Owen Coyle and his Burnley players will be left a feeling a tad homesick after this visit to London as we back Chelsea to give Burnley a firm reality check.

Match Odds:

Chelsea - 1/6 Boylesports 

Burnley – 22/1 SkyBet 

Draw – 7/1 Bet365

SoccerBetting Tip: Chelsea to Score 3+ Goals – 10/11 SkyBet