Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri will make wholesale changes to his team when they take on Burnley at the Turf Moor this weekend.
Chelsea will go head to head against Sean Dyche’s Burnley in matchweek ten of the Premier League at the Turf Moor on Sunday.
Chelsea are unbeaten in the Premier League this season and currently sit third in the table with 21 points from 9 matches (W6, D3). Having managed to draw 2-2 against Manchester United last weekend, the Blues beat BATE Borisov 3-1 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.
Chelsea gaffer Maurizio Sarri will be hoping that his side carry the momentum into the weekend clash against the Clarets. However, the Italian indicated that there are likely to be a lot of changes to the team that started against the Belarusian outfit.
Speaking his pre-match press conference, Sarri said,”I think we need to change six or seven players for Sunday. It’s very difficult in England to play in Europe. We have to play 65 hours after the BATE match, so it’s very difficult for an English team to be competitive in Europe.”
The world’s most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizzabalaga, is one of the few players that is likely to hold on to his spot in the starting XI for Sunday’s game, having started the midweek game as well.
However, he will have an entirely different backline screening him at the Turf Moor with first-choice contingent of Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso expected to return to the team in place of Davide Zappacosta, Gary Cahill, Andreas Christensen and Emerson Palmieri respectively.
Midfield metronome Jorginho is another who will return to the playing XI against Sean Dyche’s side, replacing Cesc Fabregas, while N’Golo Kante is also expected to feature from the kick off this weekend ahead of Mateo Kovacic, having not started in the European encounter.
Sarri faces a bit of a conundrum for the third midfield slot, however, with Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek contesting for the spot. The former scored the all-important equalizer against Manchester United last weekend, while the academy graduate bagged a hat-trick against BATE on Thursday.
The manager acknowledged the form that his midfielders were in his pre-match press conference, saying,”One month ago we were concerned about the fact that the midfielders didn’t score, now in the last three matches Barkley has scored two and Loftus-Cheek scored three on Thursday.”
Despite Loftus-Cheek’s heroics, Barkley is likely to get the nod on Saturday owing to the fact that he will be the fresher of the two players, having not been involved on Thursday.
Eden Hazard’s fitness is a major concern for Chelsea heading into the game. The Belgian superstar sat out of the midweek match due to a back problem and did not train with the rest of the team on Friday, but is expected to clear a late fitness test and feature against the Clarets on the left flank.
Willian will only be the second player who will be retained in the starting XI, despite having started against BATE, while Olivier Giroud is expected to make way for Alvaro Morata as the spearhead of the attack.
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri will make wholesale changes to his team when they take on Burnley at the Turf Moor this weekend.
Chelsea will go head to head against Sean Dyche’s Burnley in matchweek ten of the Premier League at the Turf Moor on Sunday.
Chelsea are unbeaten in the Premier League this season and currently sit third in the table with 21 points from 9 matches (W6, D3). Having managed to draw 2-2 against Manchester United last weekend, the Blues beat BATE Borisov 3-1 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.
Chelsea gaffer Maurizio Sarri will be hoping that his side carry the momentum into the weekend clash against the Clarets. However, the Italian indicated that there are likely to be a lot of changes to the team that started against the Belarusian outfit.
Speaking his pre-match press conference, Sarri said,”I think we need to change six or seven players for Sunday. It’s very difficult in England to play in Europe. We have to play 65 hours after the BATE match, so it’s very difficult for an English team to be competitive in Europe.”
The world’s most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizzabalaga, is one of the few players that is likely to hold on to his spot in the starting XI for Sunday’s game, having started the midweek game as well.
However, he will have an entirely different backline screening him at the Turf Moor with first-choice contingent of Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso expected to return to the team in place of Davide Zappacosta, Gary Cahill, Andreas Christensen and Emerson Palmieri respectively.
Midfield metronome Jorginho is another who will return to the playing XI against Sean Dyche’s side, replacing Cesc Fabregas, while N’Golo Kante is also expected to feature from the kick off this weekend ahead of Mateo Kovacic, having not started in the European encounter.
Sarri faces a bit of a conundrum for the third midfield slot, however, with Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek contesting for the spot. The former scored the all-important equalizer against Manchester United last weekend, while the academy graduate bagged a hat-trick against BATE on Thursday.
The manager acknowledged the form that his midfielders were in his pre-match press conference, saying,”One month ago we were concerned about the fact that the midfielders didn’t score, now in the last three matches Barkley has scored two and Loftus-Cheek scored three on Thursday.”
Despite Loftus-Cheek’s heroics, Barkley is likely to get the nod on Saturday owing to the fact that he will be the fresher of the two players, having not been involved on Thursday.
Eden Hazard’s fitness is a major concern for Chelsea heading into the game. The Belgian superstar sat out of the midweek match due to a back problem and did not train with the rest of the team on Friday, but is expected to clear a late fitness test and feature against the Clarets on the left flank.
Willian will only be the second player who will be retained in the starting XI, despite having started against BATE, while Olivier Giroud is expected to make way for Alvaro Morata as the spearhead of the attack.