A strong second-half performance from the Blues saw us make it three consecutive wins and three clean sheets in a row in the Premier League, with all four goals being scored in the space of 22 minutes after the half-time break.

The source of those goals were also significant, as Kai Havertz hit a brace to find the net in the Premier League for the first time since our last match against Burnley at Stamford Bridge in November.

Also, Reece James marked his first start since December, following two months out due to injury, by scoring the opening goal and setting up Havertz’s second, while Christian Pulisic showed his increasingly impressive form with a goal and an assist too.

Looking to the wings

Our attacking play was more evenly spread across the pitch than usual, but was still most common down the flanks. Despite James taking the headlines with his goal and assist on his return to the starting line-up, it was actually the left side, with Saul Niguez featuring in a new role as a wing-back, which provided the highest number of Chelsea attacks, with 38 per cent.

The Spaniard was assisted by the front three of Pulisic, Havertz and Mason Mount constantly shifting positions, taking it in turns to drift out to the left and create an overload down that side. Pulisic in particular did his best to occupy the Burnley defenders with his skilful runs and drag people inside to create space for Saul. The American attempted 10 dribbles, more than three times that of anyone else on the pitch, with N’Golo Kante the next highest with three.

For their part, Burnley tried to exploit Saul’s lack of experience as a wing-back by pushing forward down that side, with only striker Jay Rodriguez averaging a higher position on the pitch than Aaron Lennon and Connor Roberts on the right. In fact, full-back Roberts even spent more time upfield than centre-forward Wout Weghorst.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a tactic which proved too successful for the Clarets, despite 11 of their 17 crosses into the box coming from that right side. In fact, only two of those 17 crosses found a Burnley head, and none of those from Lennon or Roberts. Instead it swung the other way as Saul found the freedom to get on the ball, providing six of our 15 cross, the most of any Blues player.

Finding solutions

All 11 of our shots resulted from moves in open play, but there was an evident willingness to try our luck from distance, especially when attempting to break the deadlock in a frustrating first half, with more than half (55 per cent) of all our efforts on goal coming from outside the penalty area. That compares to 67 per cent of Burnley’s shots coming in the box.

One of the reasons for the Blues looking to goal earlier than usual was Burnley’s attempt to defend deep and deny us access to the penalty area. That is shown by the fact that only one of those shots from range tested goalkeeper Nick Pope, while the other five were all blocked by defenders before reaching the goal.

Our willingness to shoot from range resulted in one unlikely statistic, as Antonio Rudiger’s three shots was the most of any player on the pitch. Only one of those was on target, though, compared to his fellow German Havertz, who had the most shots on target with two, both of them being goals.

Given that he only attempted two shots in total, that gave Havertz an impressive 100 per cent conversion rate. That was part of a trend in the second half as we found our way into the area more often, with all four of our goals being scored from within 18 yards and three of them, including both of Havertz's, coming from inside the six-yard box.

Contrasting styles

Burnley are well known as a team which is happy to allow their opponents possession, instead trying to hit them on the counter with their distinctive direct style, or rely on set-pieces. Saturday’s match was no different, with half of the Clarets’ four shots on target coming from free-kicks or corners.

The difference is clear in the passing statistics, as Chelsea completed a total of 812 passes to Burnley’s 307. 738 of those passes by the Blues were short, while despite their much lower total, Burnley still attempted more crosses, with 17 to 15.

The contrast between the direct Clarets approach and Chelsea’s patient build-up is summed up by the fact Burnley’s average spell of possession lasted three passes, compared to eight for the Blues.