Burnley vs Chelsea Betting Tips (Premier League) – 28th October 2018

Chelsea return to Premier League action on Sunday, as they head to Burnley. The Blues are fresh from a Europa League victory on Thursday night, but can they recover in time to claim all three points in this visit to Turf Moor? Maurizio Sarri’s side slipped away from the top of the table after a 2-2 draw with Manchester United last weekend, and they can ill-afford another slip with the fight for the top four looking incredibly tight.

The Blues approach the weekend as part of a top five which is separated by just two points. They have Arsenal on their tail, who have just won their 11th straight game. Meanwhile, Tottenham have made their best ever Premier League start, and that’s left them in fifth. Spurs tend to finish better than they start, so Sarri’s team can’t afford to let their form wobble. With the Europa League almost wrapped up until after Christmas, the Blues need to keep on top of things in the Premier League, starting with a return to winning way this weekend.

Team News: Hazard Racing Back for Turf Moor Clash

While he was unlikely to feature against BATE, the news that Eden Hazard was ruled out of the Europa League clash through injury was worrying. The Belgian got a break on Thursday, but he’s now in a race against time to be fit for this encounter. The Blues have been hugely reliant on Hazard all season.

The fact that Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s hat-trick on Thursday made him the joint second highest scorer in all competitions says a lot. The Belgian should return in time for Sunday’s game, especially with a chance to sit out again during Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie. The big decision for Sarri comes in midfield, where Ross Barkley, Matteo Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek are pushing for one spot alongside Jorginho and N’Golo Kante.

The Clarets have had issues with goalkeepers all season, and last term’s regular between the sticks, Nick Pope, is ruled out. Joe Hart is set to start despite shipping five goals away at Man City on Saturday. The Clarets are likely to line up with a similar 4-4-1-1 system, having looked defensively solid, especially for a team who shipped five goals. The Clarets have a settled side and a hard-working group, so they’re unlikely to switch things up ahead of this clash.

Burnley Form

The Clarets are sat in 13th place in the Premier League, following a mixed campaign. They have failed to replicate their start from last season, but things seem to be picking up for them. The hosts were eliminated from the Europa League before the group stage, and many believed that their European adventure had an impact on their domestic form. However, things haven’t drastically improved since their exit to Olympiakos, and that leaves them vulnerable ahead of this clash. They didn’t improve in domestic cup action, losing in the Carabao Cup to League One Burton.

Burnley have just four points from four home games, and now they’re facing one of the Premier League’s top sides. The Blues head here with an unbeaten run stretching to 13 games across all competitions, 10 of which they’ve won. Meanwhile, the Clarets have lost over half of their league games so far, shipping close to two goals per outing in the Premier League.

Burnley vs Chelsea Head to Head

Chelsea won their visit to Turf Moor earlier this year, with Victor Moses hitting the winner in that trip to the Clarets. The Blues have claimed early season wins against Burnley twice in recent years, in 2014 and 2016. Both campaigns ended with the Blues being crowned champions. Meanwhile, last season’s struggles started with a loss at home to the Clarets, so this will be a good indicator of where the Blues stand.

  • Burnley 1-2 Chelsea, April 2018
  • Chelsea 2-3 Burnley, Aug 2017
  • Burnley 1-1 Chelsea, Feb 2017
  • Chelsea 3-0 Burnley, Aug 2016
  • Chelsea 1-1 Burnley, Feb 2015

Betting Tips

  • Over 2.5 Goals – 4/5 with bet365
  • Chelsea and BTTS – 23/10 with Coral

The Blues are heavy favourites to win this trip, with BetVictor marking them out as the 1/3 favourites to take the points at Turf Moor. Meanwhile, the draw can be backed here at 19/5 with Betfred, and Burnley sit out at 17/2 with Ladbrokes to claim a surprise win. The hosts haven’t quite been up to last season’s standard, but those odds do seem big for a side who finished two spots behind the Blues in May. Having gone in very different directions in the new season, Sarri’s side are looking to come here and pile on to Burnley’s woes.

Chelsea have had defensive issues all season, and that showed in the goal they shipped to BATE. Sarri questioned the defensive ability of his midfielders after the Europa League game, a criticism which he extended to the ones who didn’t feature. They shipped two poor goals last Saturday, while Burnley have scored in four of their last five. The Blues have seen over 2.5 goals in all but one of their away league trips this season, and we think that odds of 4/5 with bet365 are generous for a repeat. With Hazard set to return, we’re backing a strong attacking display from the visitors.

Chelsea’s four Premier League trips to Turf Moor have seen both teams score, while just one of their last seven meetings overall has seen a clean sheet recorded. With that in mind, we see the Clarets grabbing a goal here, especially after the week the Chelsea backline have had. However, the Blues should beat a side who have lost five of their last eight in the Premier League, so we’re backing an away win. Chelsea to take the points and both teams to score is our final tip, at 23/10 with Coral.

Chelsea v BATE Borisov Betting Tips (Europa League) – 25th October 2018

Chelsea are back in European action on Thursday night, as they clash with BATE Borisov at Stamford Bridge. The Blues are looking to wrap up Group L as quickly as possible, with Maurizio Sarri admitting that he wants this group stage campaign over and done with as quickly as possible. The Blues are on the verge of the next round, and two wins from their next two clashes would put them well on the way.

Sarri’s side meet BATE home and away in a crucial double header in their next two European outings, and that could send them into the next round. After two wins from two, the Premier League side are sitting clear at the top of the group, and they are in total control of their fate from here. Can they bounce back from a dramatic league encounter with Manchester United to wrap up a win on Thursday and move towards the next round?

Team News: Sarri Set for Changes Again

Once again, it’s hard to see Chelsea sticking with their strongest side in the Europa League. So far we’ve seen Sarri shake things up for European games, with the Premier League the clear main focus. While there haven’t been wholesale changes for their European clashes, Sarri has left Eden Hazard out of the starting line-up on both occasions so far, with the Belgian thriving in the league. Just six players have made two starts in the competition so far, including record signing Kepa. His countryman Alvaro Morata has also started both clashes, scoring the winner against MOL Vidi last time out. He’s likely to get another chance up front here, as he looks to boost his poor form against a lower class of opponent.

Andreas Christensen is one who has been in the news lately, and the Danish defender is rumoured to be looking for a switch away. He’s started both European clashes so far, and he should get another chance to impress in this one. Ross Barkley should be pushing for a starting place after scoring as a substitute at the weekend, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek could also be in contention. The midfielder hasn’t been given much of a chance by Sarri this season but he should get a starting role on Thursday night.

BATE have switched things up for their games so far, as they started with a 4-3-3 system in their visit to MOL Vidi in their opener. However, they made a change for the visit of PAOK in the last clash, which they ended up losing 4-1. They went a little more defensive in that game but we could see them get even more rigid for this encounter on Thursday. Having switched back to a 4-5-1, we could even see a five-man defence from the Belarusian side here, as they look to frustrate the Blues.

BATE Form

The visitors continue to dominate in Belarus, and they’re nine points clear at the top of the table after 24 games. After a weekend victory, they’re closing in on the title, and they have just six games left in their domestic campaign. While seeing out the title race is obviously going to be a big goal for BATE, they will be aiming to go on a run in Europe. They have already been eliminated from the Champions League this term, so coming up short in this group would be a blow.

BATE were eliminated by PSV in the Champions League, after putting out HJK and Qarabag. The visitors then went straight into the hat for the Europa League group stage, and so far they have three points from two matches. Last season they also crashed out at this stage, coming up short against Arsenal home and away.

Betting Tips

  • Chelsea to win to nil – 7/10 with BetVictor
  • Under 2.5 Goals – 13/8 with bet365

The Blues are heavy favourites to claim the points in this clash, with Coral pricing them at 2/15 to win this one. They have been heavily backed across the board for the win, while the visitors can be found as big as 28/1 with Betfair to secure the points. The draw is priced at odds of 7/1 with Ladbrokes, with the Blues having two very close encounters in their opening two matches in Europe this season. Will they find things any easier against BATE, or could this be yet another long night for the Chelsea faithful?

The Blues have claimed back to back wins to nil in this group so far, and with the latest betting odds in mind we can’t see an open game here. The visitors are likely to come here aiming to defend deep, and they will be hoping to be the first side to successfully grind out a 0-0 draw in this group against the Blues, given how the last two matches went. While we see Sarri making changes to the defence, he has enough depth for his side to hold out at the back again here. We’re going with a home win to nil on Thursday, which can be found at 7/10 with BetVictor.

However, the Blues have had issues when it comes to getting forward in this competition. Both of their clashes so far have been 1-0 wins, each of which have been hard fought games. They come into this one aiming to claim another three points, but with BATE set to defend deep we could see another battle of attack against defence. Sarri isn’t likely to start with his strongest men going forward, so we could see another game low on goals. As a result, we’re tipping this to be a duller affair than the bookies expect, as you can get 13/8 with bet365 on under 2.5 goals in this clash. We’re also quite tempted by another 1-0 home victory for the Blues, which can be backed at 7/1 with Betfred.

Chelsea v Manchester United Betting Tips (Premier League) – 20th October 2018

Chelsea kick things off as the Premier League returns to action on Saturday, as they host Manchester United. Jose Mourinho makes a return to his former home yet again, after struggling in recent clashes with the Blues. So far this season the Red Devils have struggled to keep the pace with the early Premier League pacesetters, which this time around includes Chelsea. The days of Mourinho and Antonio Conte’s battling style are gone, replaced with a forward thinking approach that has pushed the Blues back into title contention.

There’s some gap between Chelsea and United – both in terms of points and performances. The Blues will likely recognise the current state of play around Old Trafford, which looks alarmingly like the final Mourinho season at Stamford Bridge. So far this term he’s seen his side struggle for form across all competitions, and it’s hard to see the Special One’s ego being prepared for a tough visit to his former stomping ground. However, does he have a plan to block “Sarrismo”?

Team News: Barkley Backed to Keep Blues Place

The Blues have found a settled side, the majority of which seems pretty easy to call. Even the battles which were once a toss up look certain, with Olivier Giroud likely to start ahead of Alvaro Morata, and Willian over Pedro. The only real contest remaining comes in the centre of midfield, and Ross Barkley seems to have the edge over Real Madrid loanee Matteo Kovacic. The former Everton man was impressive against Southampton, and after a strong display away to Spain for England, he deserves a start.

The Red Devils come here with a few injury concerns, including former Blue Nemanja Matic. The midfielder is set to miss this trip to his former home, and that leaves United slightly open in the middle of the park, with Ander Herrera also missing out this weekend. Jesse Lingard didn’t make the England squad for this month’s internationals, and he could well sit out as the Red Devils head south. It’s hard to tell just how Mourinho is going to set his side up, but you can be sure he’ll try out some mix of man marking and repetitive fouling on Eden Hazard.

Man United Form

Things certainly haven’t been going Mourinho’s way of late, and there were rumours that he was set for the sack this month. He went into their clash with Newcastle under pressure, with speculation suggesting that United would use the international break to find a replacement. The Red Devils didn’t make that change, although Mourinho did pull off a 3-2 win after being 2-0 down to the Toon, so that result could have kept him in place for now.

Before that, United had failed to win their last four games. That run included an EFL Cup exit at home to Derby, and a dull 0-0 at home to Valencia in the Champions League. Their last away trip in the Premier League brought a defeat in London, with West Ham beating them 3-1. It’s not exactly been a great start for United, who are down in eighth, while the top five are separated by just two points at the top of the table.

Chelsea v Man United Head to Head

Chelsea have the edge over United of late, and Conte departed England with a solid record over the biggest club in the country. It must have been quite bruising for Mourinho’s ego that he lost four of six meetings with Conte, including all four in London. The pair last met in the FA Cup final back in May, which Eden Hazard’s strike settled.

  • Chelsea 1-0 Man United, May 2018
  • Man United 2-1 Chelsea, Feb 2018
  • Chelsea 1-0 Man United, Nov 2017
  • Man United 2-0 Chelsea, April 2017
  • Chelsea 1-0 Man United, March 2017

Betting Tips

  • Eden Hazard to score – 11/8 with Ladbrokes
  • Chelsea to Win to Nil – 19/10 with BetVictor

Chelsea are well fancied for this clash, as they are priced up at 7/10 with Coral to claim the three points. The Red Devils are 4/1 with Betfred for a shock away success, while the draw can be found at 11/4 with bet365. The recent form United have shown has clearly played a part in the latest betting odds, and that has made the unbeaten Blues favourites to come away with yet another success against their former boss. However, will they be able to see out this clash with one of their top six rivals, given how they slipped up against Liverpool in their last home Premier League outing?

The Blues do at least have the Premier League’s top scorer to call upon, and Hazard clearly has a point to prove to Mourinho. He addressed his time with the Portuguese during the international break, but are things as amicable as he suggests? Even if he has regrets over his time with Mourinho, he is bound to want to punish United, who always seem to come in heavy against the Belgian. After deciding the cup final back in May, we expect Hazard to trouble United once again here. After his excellent start, we’re backing him to score any time at 11/8 with Ladbrokes.

One thing of note about the recent clashes between these two is United’s lack of goals. They’ve failed to score in their last four meetings with Chelsea in London, while they’ve been beaten to nil in four of their last five visits to Stamford Bridge. We expect the usually defensive Mourinho to try and make this game tight on Saturday, and that could see them surrender their attacking threat. With four clean sheets in their last six, we think it’s worth backing the Blues to win to nil at home this weekend. They’re priced at 19/10 with BetVictor to win and keep a clean sheet.

Southampton v Chelsea Betting Tips (Premier League) – 7th October 2018

Thursday, Sunday: rinse, repeat. That’s the pattern of Chelsea’s season going forwards and one of the biggest challenges facing Maurizio Sarri. The Italian has taken to life in English football with aplomb but balancing the demands of domestic football with the Europa League has proven too much for countless managers and teams over the years.

Sarri has shown so far that he is not going to simply sacrifice the Europa League. Yes, he rotated for the matches against PAOK and MOL Vidi but they were still pretty strong sides full of first teamers and internationals. You could argue that the decision to play a strong side in Greece had a negative impact on Chelsea’s performance in the London derby against West Ham but that was more to do with the travel problems that affected their journey home than the match itself. Certainly, Thursday’s home match against MOL Vidi cannot be used as an excuse should the Blues fail to beat Southampton in a match where they are the strong favourites.

Team News: Big Guns to Return for South Coast Trip

Maurizio Sarri has won many fans in football for his unique style of play. Chelsea fans have definitely been delighted with what they’ve seen so far of ‘Sarri-ball’ but the amount of high intensity work that Sarri demands his players get through does require a fair amount of recovery work. That’s why he gave some of his star players the night off on Thursday but you can expect all the big guns to return for the trip to St Mary’s.

Away from the squad rotation, Chelsea are nearing a full bill of health for Sunday’s match. Pedro is working his way back to full fitness after his shoulder problem, Andreas Christensen should be fit enough for a place on the bench and the same is true of Ruben Loftus-Cheek who is desperate for a chance to impress in a Chelsea shirt after doing so well for Crystal Palace and England last season.

The other selection news is that Rob Green, Danny Drinkwater and Lucas Pizaon are available for selection but it would take a major sickness bug to pass through the squad for either of those to see any game time.

Southampton Form

As a player, Mark Hughes won a huge number of fans wherever he played. That very much includes at Stamford Bridge where Sparky is still fondly remembered for the role that he and his goals played in the club’s resurgence in the 1990s. As a manager, however, Hughes has found it easier to alienate fans than win them over.

A growing number of Southampton fans are falling out of love with Hughes. He did some very good work to keep the Saints up last season but their early season form has been horrible. Southampton have just one win and five points to show from their opening seven matches. They managed to squeeze past Everton on penalties in midweek but after throwing a two goal lead away against Brighton they lost their last two league matches with an aggregate score of 5-0.

Southampton v Chelsea Head to Head

Southampton are one of those teams that Chelsea would love to play every week. The Blues have won the last six straight meetings against the Saints including three matches last season. In fact, the Saints have got the better of Chelsea just twice in their last 21 meetings.

  • Chelsea 2-0 Southampton, Apr2018
  • Southampton 2-3 Chelsea, Apr 2018
  • Chelsea 1-0 Southampton, Dec 2017
  • Chelsea 4-2 Southampton, Apr 2017
  • Southampton 0-2 Chelsea, Oct 2016

Betting Tips

  • Chelsea to Win and Under 2.5 Goals – 3/1 with Ladbrokes
  • Chelsea/Chelsea in Half Time/Full Time – 15/4 with BetVictor

Ever since mounting a successful bid for promotion from the Championship in the 2011/12 season, Southampton have developed a reputation for being a forward thinking club. The club’s owners have invested heavily in the training and analysis facilities which has seen them sign some very good players and make smart managerial appointments. It all went wrong last season though as Mauricio Pellegrino so nearly took the Saints down and the club seemed almost lumbered with Hughes after he somehow managed to save them.

For the first time in a long time, Southampton fans are seriously concerned about the direction in which their club is heading. That’s a feeling that Chelsea fans are more accustomed to but the one major benefit of Roman Abramovich’s revolving door policy is that the potential for good times is just around the corner. The Stamford Bridge faithful and those who follow Chelsea on the road know to enjoy it when the team is playing well and we think they’ll very much enjoy the trip to St Mary’s.

Chelsea are perhaps the last team that Southampton would choose to face given their problems at the moment and you’d have to say anything other than an away win would be a surprise on Sunday in front of the Sky Sports cameras. Even when Chelsea haven’t quite hit their stride under Sarri’s management, they’ve been able to dominate possession and control the flow of a game. Hughes will doubtless send his team out to stifle Chelsea’s play by limiting their space on the ball. While that will likely frustrate the Blues for significant periods of the match, Chelsea are more than capable of the patience required to break the home side down.

That leads us to two betting tips. The first is on Chelsea winning and there being under 2.5 goals in the match at a biggest price of 3/1 with Ladbrokes. Southampton are in real trouble but they’re not going to roll over and let Chelsea win so we’re not expecting a classic. The second way of profiting from Chelsea wearing Southampton’s resistance down is by taking the odds of 15/4 that BetVictor are quoting on the Draw/Chelsea selection in their half time/full time market.

Chelsea v MOL Vidi Betting Tips (Europa League) – 4th October 2018

Maurizio Sarri was thrown in at the deep end on his introduction to English football. He was keen to say so after a tough first assignment against Manchester City in the Community Shield. Few people were surprised that Pep Guaridola’s men were victorious that day at Wembley Stadium and Sarri was at pains to tell Blues fans that it would take time for his new team to adapt to his methods. Thankfully it didn’t take long for that adaptation to start bearing fruit.

The loss against City remains Chelsea’s only defeat of the season. Yes, it hasn’t always gone 100% to plan – the scrappy defending against Arsenal and the goalless draw with West Ham stand out – but you can’t say that Sarri’s start to life at Stamford Bridge has been anything but impressive. That extends to the Europa League where a dogged performance against PAOK saw Chelsea return home from Greece with the points and it’s that competition that Sarri is now focussing on as MOL Vidi visit the Bridge on Thursday evening.

Team News: Strong Team Expected Despite Inevitable Rotation

This is unchartered territory for Chelsea. Sarri is the first manager who’s had to deal with the punishing Thursday-Sunday schedule for (hopefully) the whole season as this is the Blues’ first ever appearance in the group stages of the Europa League.

Sarri will doubtless be working hand in glove with the backroom staff to assess which players are close to entering the dreaded ‘red zone’ and therefore need a rest ahead of Sunday’s trip to St Mary’s to take on Southampton. This being the early stages of the season though, Sarri will likely refrain from making wholesale changes. That was the order of the day for the trip to Greece – probably Chelsea’s toughest match of the group stage – when Sarri made five changes from the team who stuffed Cardiff 4-1 so expect a strong team to take to the pitch on Thursday.

In terms of injuries, things are looking good. There’s no point in risking Pedro’s shoulder for what should be a routine win and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is another unlikely to be called into action but everybody else looks in good shape. The only other limitations are that Danny Drinkwater, Lucas Piazon and Rob Green are not in the Europa League squad.

MOL Vidi Form

As you’ll doubtless be aware from your religious viewing of the Nemzeti Bajnokság – or Hungarian Division 1 – MOL Vidi’s title defence hasn’t gone entirely to plan so far. Marko Nikolic’s men have bucked their ideas up with wins in their last two matches but that’s only been good enough to see them climb to third, some eight points behind the runaway leaders, Ferencvaros.

Part of the problem for MOL Vidi is that they expended so much energy trying to qualify for the Champions League. Vidi managed to navigate a path past F91 Dudelange, Ludogorets and Malmo but fell at the final hurdle, losing over two legs to AEK Athens.

Chelsea v MOL Vidi Head to Head

This is the first time that Chelsea and MOL Vidi have ever crossed paths and the Hungarian side’s first visit to England since 1985. Fans of the club do still remember fondly the time they beat Manchester United in the quarter finals of the 1984/85 UEFA Cup.

Betting Tips

  • Chelsea to Win to Nil – 8/13 with bet365
  • Alvaro Morata to Score First – 14/5 with Ladbrokes

It’s clear that a club like Chelsea should be playing in the Champions League but there’s no need to view the Europa League simply as a punishment for the mistakes of last season. Sarri can do himself and his players the world of good by getting everybody to buy into the idea that this is a real opportunity. From a collective point of view it’s an opportunity to win something meaningful in Sarri’s first season at the Bridge and from an individual point of view it is an opportunity for squad players to play themselves into form and potentially into the first team.

You can only imagine how quickly things would have unravelled in the Europa League if Antonio Conte was still in charge. He found it difficult to motivate players for the biggest games at times, let alone MOL Vidi at home, so Sarri’s man management will be key throughout the tournament. If he is able to light a fire under the 11 players that he picks on Thursday night there is no question that Chelsea will be far too strong for their opponents.

MOL Vidi should be congratulated for the way that they won the Hungarian title last season and for their application in attempting to qualify for the Champions League but this is another step up entirely. Not only are Chelsea unbeaten in all their competitive matches so far this season but they’ve played some very good football in doing so. That said, there is little point backing the Blues to win at a best price of 1/10 unless. It makes much more sense to take a slightly bigger risk and take bet365 up on the 8/13 they’re quoting about Chelsea winning to nil.

One of the issues that Sarri will have to solve over the coming season is keeping clean sheets against the best teams. MOL Vidi, however, are one of the weakest sides that will visit Stamford Bridge this season so a win to nil should be on the cards. An Alvaro Morata goal should also be on the cards if he is given the chance to shine. Motivating a man who has scored 12 times in the Champions League to do the business against relative European minnows won’t be easy but there’s no doubt that the Spaniard is playing for his future at the club. It’s time for him to step up and we have faith that he will on Thursday night so back Morata to score the game’s opening goal at 14/5 with Ladbrokes.