Chelsea vs Burnley: Blues Solidify Claim as PL's Big Chokers in 25/26.

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What do when any decent side takes the lead at home against a side that had won 1 in their last 17 PL games? There is only one right answer. Chelsea, however, continue to show that they just do not get it.

Burnley’s last league game, away against Palace, should have been front and centre of Rosenior’s HT team talk. Burnley went two down, then scored three by the end of the first half to take the lead. They were outshot 21 to 8, yet Dubravka made just the one save all game. Burnley walked away with all three points.

Joao Pedro’s 4th minute goal was the perfect start. But from there Chelsea scraped together three shots (all from outside the box) in the next half an hour, falling deeper into a now familiar state of disrespectful lethargy. Half the squad seemingly spent most of their 8-day break in Dubai, and most played like their minds were still sunbathing there.

A 6th red card this season in 27 games, as many as Chelsea have had in 76 games in the past two seasons, only nudged the game closer to the inevitable. Wes Fofana is one of six different players to be sent off this season, making it extremely hard for Rosenior to point to the source of a seemingly incurable malaise.

Burnley also exposed Chelsea’s alarming vulnerabilities from defensive set-pieces. Flemming, who could have been sent off twice over for his multiple transgressions, headed in a James Ward-Prowse (remember him?) corner. Burnley could have made it two, even three from the next few corners.

Dubravka, meanwhile, just like against Palace, had to make just a solitary save. Burnley finished level on shots with Chelsea at 12, making the Blues the only T7 side to concede 12 against them this season. 2 points out of 6 against Leeds and Burnley at home will be highlighted in bold and underlined in red should Liverpool and United finish above them at the end of the season.

The bottom line: another abhorrent, callous display makes it 19 points dropped from winning positions. Half of those would have put them within 3 points of Arsenal. Instead, Chelsea could finish the week in 5th, between the guaranteed UCL spots & the UECL one, quite poetic considering how often they fluctuate between both.

“After the first goal we were happy just to maintain possession and not be ruthless,” said Rosenior post-game. “You need to be ruthless in this league because if you don’t defend set plays well, which we haven’t, then you get punished." At least the manager gets it. The big question is - when will the players?

Sleepwalking on set-pieces & slipping into power-saver mode half way at the Emirates next week will guarantee another humbling at the hands of a bitter, title-challenging rival. It is also the perfect opportunity to do what Chelsea do best when they’re not winning titles - ensuring their London neighbours don’t win any either.