Chelsea look to keep their top-four aspirations on track when they host Burnley on Saturday.
Chelsea were only able to get one point in their last Premier League game against Brighton as the sides drew 1-1. But the Blues were able to get back to winning ways in the FA Cup as they beat Nottingham Forest 2-0.
Last time out in the league for Burnley, they were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa in a very tight battle. Similarly to Chelsea, the Clarets were able to get through to the fourth round of the FA Cup when they beat Peterborough United 4-2.
Team news
Chelsea have ruled Christian Pulisic out due to an adductor injury, while Marcos Alonso is also again absent.
Long-term absentees Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marco van Ginkel remain on the sidelines.
Burnley will be without Johann Berg Gudmundsson due to a hamstring injury, while Ashley Barnes is expected to miss out with an ongoing groin problem.
Jay Rodriguez and Phil Bardsley have both missed training this week because of flu and are being assessed.
Chris Wood is likely to recover in time from a hamstring issue, while Ben Gibson is back in training after a groin problem.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard talked about January speculation and about home form:
‘‘When you analyse the three games that we’ve lost – West Ham, Bournemouth, Southampton – it always gives you a bad feeling losing at home in front of your fans. We’ve created 50 chances in three games and scored no goals so if that is the case and you’re playing in the Premier League and you let teams stay in the game then they will have quality to hurt you.
Sean Dyche insists it is business as usual ahead of the weekend trip to Chelsea:
“Looking back at the Christmas period we lost all three games, but there was only one, I think, where people would have been disappointed, and that’s (Aston) Villa. If we’d beaten them, I think people would say we’ve had a good Christmas, sat on 27 points and through to the fourth round of the cup.
“Going forwards, we do have a tough run of games, but you do have to play them all. There are tranches of games which are very tough and we are in that now.
We’ve just had Everton and Manchester United, now we have the next run coming up with Chelsea, Leicester, Arsenal and Man United again. Then we go on a different run to the end of the season where we only play three of the big teams, so you can look at it any way you like.
Head-to-head
Chelsea are looking to complete the league double over Burnley for the first time since 2009-10, when Blues head coach Frank Lampard played in both matches. Burnley have won just one of the 11 Premier League meetings (D3, L7). Five of the six Premier League points claimed by Burnley in this fixture have come at Stamford Bridge.