James’ fitness, Estevao’s injury + Chelsea’s set-piece woes

Burnley didn’t read the script on Saturday as a much-anticipated avalanche of goals failed to materialize at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have now failed to beat the three clubs promoted in west London this season.

From another Chelsea red card to many more Joao Pedro (£7.7 million) points, here are the Scout Notes from the match.

FOREVER BANNED FOR GAMEWEEK 28

Wesley Fofana (£4.4m) will miss next weekend’s Arsenal v Chelsea clash after becoming the sixth Blues player to be sent off in the league this season.

Fofana’s dismissal for two bookable offenses handed him a one-match ban.

In the end, it was a costly red card. The Blues were 1-0 up when Fofana went off early, and were not in great danger despite the scoreline being close and the attacking performance a bit weak.

However, after Liam Rosenior’s team was reduced to 10 men in the 72nd minute, Burnley’s number of shots increased from five to 12. One of these efforts was Zian Flemingequalizer in stoppage time (£5.3m).

The hosts could even play with nine players at the end of the match except for substitutes Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.0m) got away with a last man foul.

Chelsea have now dropped points in five of the six games in which they have had a player sent off this season.

FRUSTRATION FOR PALMER, MORE HAPPINESS FOR PEDRO

As part of a tactical rejig when Fofana was dismissed, Cole Palmer (£10.6m) makes way for Tosin.

It capped a frustrating afternoon for the striker, who was the most bought midfielder in Gameweek 27.

Even though he played badly, he still had a chance. There was a one-on-one breakaway in the first half where he uncharacteristically shot weakly at goal Martin Dubravka (£4.0 million). But as a last resort Joe Worrall (£3.8m) in the second half, Palmer was sure to score from 15 yards.

Palmer also set up Pedro for a fine opener after the break.

The all-round display is disappointing but can still easily produce double-digit catches.

Enzo Fernandez (£6.9m) has its own fallout but without the threat of a return. Often giving the ball away, he failed to create chances (being outside a corner didn’t help) or register a single shot inside the box.

Joao Pedro’s fourth-minute goal accounted for half of Chelsea’s xG (0.84 from 1.91).

“That [result] none at Wesley [Fofana]. That is our performance. From the first goal, we lacked a score when we had control. I want an incision. I want us to create wave after wave of attacks. We were too secure in our possession.” – Liam Rosenior

Pedro has collected 55 points in the last six gameweeks, but now he faces the same problem as his teammates – unfavorable matches:

We dug into Palmer’s baseline numbers against big teams last week, and it’s worth noting that 15 of Pedro’s 19 returns this season have come against teams in the bottom half. It would be 16 from 19, if Sunderland get a point and go above Newcastle United on Sunday.

WHY JAMES WAS CHANGED

Reece James (£5.6m) following Palmer who was replaced. The owners will have no problem with that, as James kept a clean sheet before Flemming’s stoppage-time equalizer.

And the good news is, there are no worries about any injuries.

“Rece [James] is stretching and I want to make sure I protect it. Pedro Neto stretches, I have to protect him.

“Reece, to be honest, he’s very important for us as a captain, as a world-class player. If there’s any sign of fatigue that he has, I want him off the pitch. I need him for Arsenal. He should be fine.” – Liam Rosenior

ESTEVAO INJURY UPDATE

The Blues were unexpectedly without him Estevao (£6.4m) on Saturday – and unsurprisingly, injury played a role in his omission.

“Unfortunately, yesterday in training, he felt an injury to his hamstring. At the moment we are checking him to make sure it’s nothing too serious but he wasn’t able to play for today’s match and we’ll see.” – Liam Rosenior in Estevao

CHELSEA SET-PIECE DISADVANTAGES

One final word on Chelsea: their set-play difficulties.

Bottom of the table for set-piece xG conceded (xGC SP, top), they allowed another set-piece attempt to score on Saturday.

On either side of Flemming’s goal there are good set-piece opportunities for substitutes Ashley Barnes (£4.2m) – despite only being offside – and Jacob Bruun Larsen (£5.3 million). So, an equalizer in stoppage time didn’t just happen once.

Exciting news for people like Gabriel Magalhaes (£7.1 million) and Declan Rice (£7.6m), then, ahead of next Sunday’s clash at the Emirates.

“Set-pieces are very important in the Premier League, they are very important. Our record this season, in defending set-pieces, is not at the level necessary to achieve what we want to achieve and that is something I need to address.”

“A task was missed. A task, a marking task was not completed. Flemming, we know, is their best ball header. And there are players I won’t do, I’m not here to throw players under the bus, I will always protect my players, I’ll deal with it in a week. There are players we assigned to that task who marked the wrong players.” – Liam Rosenior

BURNLEY BIG GAME?

Speaking after Sunderland’s recent defeat, Scott Parker half-accused his players of only being ‘ready’ for the big games. Recent results against the top six lend weight to the theory:

All eyes are on the next few weeks, as Burnley avoid the traditional bigger teams:

Expecting to do something other than play as plucky underdogs has at times seemed like a handicap for the Clarets, who put in poor performances against Sunderland, West Ham and Brighton among brave displays against the big teams. Brentford hopes Burnley will also be affected by the same bad effects next weekend.

Flemming, incidentally, is now eighth among FPL forwards for minutes per goal (160.7) this season. He has scored six goals, despite only starting 11 games.

Finally, it deserves praise James Ward-Prowse (£5.6 million). His set-piece delivery caused chaos for Chelsea late in the match, resulting in an assist for Flemming’s header. The Clarets’ first league start is just around the corner.