Chelsea had the biggest win of their European campaign thus far last night, a 1-0 triumph at Ajax, in UCL group stage play. Michy Batshuayi and Christian Pulisic, two young and talented players who were also teammates at Borussia Dortmund, hooked up for the pivotal scoring strike.
Pulisic assisted Batshuayi on play that conveyed just how effective the duo can be when called upon, which hasn’t happened as much as expected/they probably deserve.
There’s a lot of depth in on the wings and in the final third, which Blues boss Frank Lampard discussed both before and after the match.
“Sometimes the toughest part of management is leaving out players that really want to play week in, week out. You rely on them being positive and coming on to make an impact,” Lampard told reporters after the win.
“You have to give Christian huge credit because he looked so lively and the assist is just as important as the finish.”
Although Pulisic has yet to score in a Chelsea shirt, he has five assists (in spite of all his struggles for playing time) since Stamford Bridge brought him over from BVB and made him the most expensive American in history. That said, let’s turn to the team news for the next match, a Premier League fixture on Saturday at Burnley FC.
We start with the Clarets and good old friend Danny Drinkwater, who would be ineligible to play against Chelsea even if he was fit, but he’s out with an ankle injury anyway.
Elsewhere, Johann Berg Gudmundsson is out indefinitely while former Chelsea man Jack Cork is back in training after having recovered from a shoulder injury.
Ashley Barnes is also expected back, and likely to feature in this one, having recovered from a groin injury.
Turning over to Chelsea, Ross Barkley is a doubt for this one, having suffered an ankle injury against Newcastle United. His more likely return could come next Wednesday versus Manchester United in the League Cup.
Midfield maestro N’Golo Kante might be healed up enough from the knock he suffered while on international duty with France to feature, but potentially not starters minutes in this one.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger remain out for this one as the trio are long term injury absentees for the Blues.
Chelsea FC at Burnley FC FYIs
Kickoff: Oct. 26, 5:30 pm Turf Moor
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Form Guide: Chelsea WWWLW Burnley LWDWD
Referee: Michael Oliver
Google’s result probability: 55% Chelsea FC win, 24% Draw, 21% Burnley victory
Prediction: Chelsea FC 2, Burnley 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.