The action at Stamford Bridge starts at 3pm UK time and the Blues have won both our past two league games in the once-traditional Saturday time-slot by an aggregate of four goals to nil.

The Clarets head to the capital nine points shy of safety, with only 12 games left to avoid the drop for the third time in five seasons.

Last time out in the league, the Lancastrians stunned hosts Crystal Palace by winning 3-2, having trailed 2-0, nudging the narrative towards their potential great escape. However, the result also means Burnley have conceded two or more goals in eight consecutive league visits to the capital.

Meanwhile, 11 days ago at the Bridge, Chelsea saw a two-goal lead against Leeds United dwindle frustratingly to a 2-2 draw and a share of the points.

The FA Cup drew contrasting outcomes. A much-changed Burnley side were surprisingly turfed out of the FA Cup, having opened the scoring against League One visitors Mansfield. In the north-east, Chelsea scored four without reply in a superb performance at promotion-chasing Hull City and will now face the Championship’s Hollywood side Wrexham in round five.

Saturday’s hat-trick hero Pedro Neto also opened the scoring in the reverse of this fixture at Turf Moor, which finished 2-0 in the world champions’ favour.

Chelsea have not lost to Burnley since 2017, winning nine of the past 12 meetings on all fronts, but we have not beaten them in London for five years.

A ninth win from the 12 matches under Liam Rosenior so far would bounce the Blues up to fourth, with Manchester United not traveling to Everton until Monday.

Team news

Rosenior revealed in his pre-match press conference on Thursday that the Blues will be without left-back Marc Cucurella for Burnley's visit to Stamford Bridge due to injury.

‘I can't give an exact timeframe on Marc,’ our head coach said. ‘He suffered a hamstring injury just before half-time in the Leeds game. It's a real shame because he's an outstanding player and one of the best left-backs in the world.

‘It’s a shame not to have Marc available but we have Jorrel [Hato] and we have Malo [Gusto] who can play on that side, so we have really good players that can cover. Of course, the sooner Marc gets back, the better.’

However, he expects to have captain Reece James and Cole Palmer available to feature from the start following their return to the team in recent weeks.

‘With Reece and Cole, it’s based on day-by-day,’ added Rosenior. ‘In fact, it’s not just those two but how each player feels.

‘At the moment they are both fully fit and both available for selection. They both trained really well on Thursday and with those two players, having them in the team makes us a really strong side.’

The history

Burnley are one of the 19 opponents Chelsea faced in our debut season in the Football League Division Two, losing 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in November 1905. Uniquely, a scratch Blues side lost at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup the same day.

Over the 120-odd years since, the Clarets have proved one of the toughest visitors in the current top flight for the Londoners to crack. While winning 23 of our 48 league meetings with the Lancastrians at the Bridge, the Londoners have also lost 16.

All but one of those set-backs came before the advent of the Premier League, the Blues recording 13 wins and five draws in 19 home matches since. Burnley have not beaten the Blues in 12 meetings home and away, though three of the past five at the Bridge were drawn.

In January 2020, our 100th encounter ended in a 3-0 victory for Frank Lampard’s youthful side. Jorginho broke the deadlock with a penalty and Tammy Abraham added a second ahead of the break, before Callum Hudson-Odoi completed the scoring – then the youngest Chelsea player to score in the Premier League, at at 19 years and 65 days.

A year later, Thomas Tuchel was in charge, the country was in lockdown and Sean Dyche’s side were beaten by goals from wide defenders – Cesar Azpilicueta (his ninth for the Blues under six different managers) and Marcos Alonso. That 2-0 in 2021 remains the last time we took all three points at home to the Clarets, who were promoted in the summer.

Know this...

Burnley boss Scott Parker is the only current Premier League manager to have played for Chelsea, registering 28 appearances and one goal in 2004.

Trebles for Pedro Neto at Hull and Cole Palmer at Wolverhampton Wanderers made Chelsea the first team to record successive hat-tricks on the road in all competitions since 2017.

Only Wolverhampton (four) have earned fewer league points on their travels than Burnley (eight).

Against Hull, Mamadou Sarr completed 98 per cent of his passes (101 of 103), the highest accuracy by a Chelsea centre-back in any match this season.

The Clarets have conceded 16 goals in the final 15 minutes of each half away from home. Burnley’s opponents have scored first in 11 of their 13 league games on the road and the Lancastrians recovered to win on only one occasion, last time out at Crystal Palace.

Burnley have not secured a clean sheet away to the Blues in the top flight for almost 55 years, since April 1971.