There’s nothing easy in the English Premier League, but Chelsea have gotten themselves a season-opening match against presumably the weakest team in the Premier League, a Burnley side that hasn’t done anything this summer that would make us think they’re going to be anything more than relegation bound.
Jose Mourinho will never admit it, but last season was a failure. Finishing third and not winning any trophy in any competition while being left out of the championship race in the final few weeks was a blow to his ego, the one thing more important to him than the team’s success. So what did he do in order to rectify the situation? Spend a lot of money, mostly on players from Atletico Madrid.
Thibaut Courtois was a Chelsea player on loan and now he has returned, meaning Petr Cech is on the bench. Diego Costa and Filipe Luis didn’t come for free. Didier Dorgba did, but Cesc Fabregas, coming from Barcelona, cost quite a lot of money as well. Burnley? They spent a total of £2.2 million on signings, while getting their more meaningful ones through free transfers, like Matthew Taylor and Steven Reid.
Sean Dyche, making his Premier League sidelines debut, needs to remember one thing, and that is Jose Mourinho doesn’t bite as badly as he barks. Anything he says will be an attempt to make his opponent lose focus before the match. It’ll be interesting to see what Mourinho has in store, with his team quite deep and a lot of rotations and different mixes available to him, although it won’t stop him from complaining if the need arises.
Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas will be in the middle, and Ramires will likely be there with him. In his front three, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard will be joined by either Oscar or Willian, although no one is too hot on Brazilian who were part of the World Cup humiliation these days.
Burnley didn’t last more than a season when they last visited the Premier League, but that one-year stint did come with a win over Manchester United. No one is making any promises, but Chelsea struggled last season in the small matches, not the big ones, and it seems like no one is as small as Burnley are at the moment.