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TEAM NEWS
Chelsea will begin their title defence without Eden Hazard and new signing Tiemoue Bakayoko, who are both injured.
Victor Moses is banned as a result of his red card in the FA Cup final but Pedro is available and there could be debuts for Antonio Rudiger and club record signing Alvaro Morata.
Burnley have made five summer signings, including Jack Cork and Charlie Taylor.
Another new recruit, Jon Walters, is likely to replace the departed Andre Gray up front.
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
Steve Wilson: “Champions Chelsea will be expected to send out a signal of intent to the other title pretenders against a Burnley side which, in league and cup, won only once in 21 attempts on the road last season.
“But that Burnley are embarking on a second successive top-flight season at all is testament to Sean Dyche and the culture he has established at Turf Moor.
“Don’t forget, the last time Burnley had avoided relegation in a top-flight season was 1975.
“That said, it would be a major surprise if Burnley could repeat their Stamford Bridge draw of 2015 – and an even bigger one if Chelsea were to suffer an opening-day defeat for the first time in 20 seasons.”
Twitter: @Wilsonfooty
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Burnley manager Sean Dyche on the big-money sales of Michael Keane and Andre Gray: “No-one wants to lose their best players, but there’s a reality to all clubs, particularly this one.
“There’s still a level this club operates to. It makes it tough at times, but it’s the reality.
“Some outgrow the club financially. When these opportunities come around, they’re there to be gripped by the players, so there are obvious slots available.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
Chelsea look short of players but I still think they will have too much for Burnley, who managed only one away win last season and rarely looked much of a threat on the road.
Prediction: 2-0
Lawro’s full predictions v Steve Cram and Brendan Foster
- Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round’s Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Chelsea are unbeaten in the past six meetings with Burnley, all of which came in the Premier League (W4, D2).
- Burnley have gone eight league matches without an away win in this fixture since a 1-0 top-flight victory in April 1971. However, the Clarets did knock Chelsea out of the League Cup on penalties at Stamford Bridge in November 2008.
Chelsea
- Chelsea have earned an unrivalled 54 points on the Premier League’s opening season, winning 16 and losing just three of their 25 games.
- They have gone 18 matches without defeat on the opening day since losing to Coventry in 1998 (W15, D3).
- The Blues have won 21 of their 23 competitive home matches under Antonio Conte. The exceptions were 2-1 league defeats against Liverpool and Crystal Palace.
- Alvaro Morata’s conversion rate of 27% last season was the highest of any striker to score 10 or more goals in Spain’s top flight.
Burnley
- Burnley have lost all three Premier League opening-day fixtures, scoring just one goal.
- Their most recent winning start to a top-flight season came in 1973 when they beat Sheffield United.
- Sean Dyche’s side won only two of their last 16 league and cup games in 2016-17, losing nine times.
- They had the fourth worst goalscoring record in the division last season.
- Sam Vokes could become the first Burnley player to score in four consecutive Premier League matches.
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