Fans can't wait to see Transfer signings Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis make their competitive debut under Mourinho. It has been 16 years since Chelsea last lost their opening match in the English Premier League.
On Monday night, the Blues will close Matchday 1 of the 2014/15 EPL season away from their fortress, Stamford Bridge. They will be hosted by Burnley at Turf Moore. The underdogs will be hoping to upset Chelsea just like Swansea City shocked Louis van Gaal's Manchester United last Saturday.
However, preparation and a bit of luck are the keys to avoid a false start and midfielder Nemanja Matic is looking forward to the clash. He told Chelsea's official website:
"We’ve worked very hard during pre-season and we are prepared for the fight. We’re pleased to be playing our first competitive game and we’re confident we can start with a victory. We will try to do our best to make our supporters happy."
He added:
"I feel that I’m well prepared and I’m ready for Monday’s game against Burnley. We’ve played a lot of friendlies and the whole squad has had a chance to play and prepare themselves."
Arsenal and Liverpool struggled to come out on top of Crystal Palace and Southampton respectively. Manchester City were more dominant, beating Newcastle United 2-0 away from home. Among the big teams in the EPL, only Manchester Unites suffered an undesirable result. According to Matic, Chelsea must allow no room for complacency.
"In the Premier League every game is very hard, every team are capable of playing well. With teams like Burnley, who have come up from the Championship, they want to show they are capable of playing in the Premier League," the Serbian international explained.
"If they are playing against a team like Chelsea of course they will want to impress, but we are ready, we have our own qualities and we are confident of getting the right result."
Burnley vs Chelsea Team Sheets
Burnley's lineup: Heaton; Trippier, Shackell (c), Duff, Mee; Arfield, Jones, Marney, Taylor; Ings, Jutkiewicz.
Burnley's bench: Gilks, Dummigan, Long, Wallace, Kightly, Sordell, Barnes.
Chelsea's lineup: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa.
Chelsea's bench: Cech, Zouma, Filipe Luis, Mikel, Willian, Torres, Drogba.
Where to watch the match -- Live stream, start time, TV listings
Watch Burnley vs Chelsea live on Monday, August 18, 2014:
In USA at 15:00 EST: NBC Sports Live Extra, SiriusXM FC, Mun2, NBCSN, Deportes Telemundo En Vivo
In UK at 20:00 BST: NOW TV, Sky Go Extra, Sky Sports 1/HD, BBC Radio 5 Live, Sky Go
In Canada at 15:00 EST: Sportsnet World
In Australia at 5:00 AET: Fox Sports 3 Australia, FOX Sports EPL On Demand, Fox Sports Play
Visit the Burnley vs Chelsea match page for worldwide live listings. Interested in learning where to watch the 2014-15 English Premier League? Check out LiveSoccerTV's EPL Multi-Platform Broadcast Guide for the full season.
STAY TUNED! DOWNLOAD the FREE LiveSoccerTV APP NOW:
For official TV broadcast listings, schedules, live match updates, and much, much more , download Live Soccer TV's FREE App! Click on the links:
- For Android => http://bit.ly/lstvgpsm
- For iPhone iOS => http://bit.ly/lstvappsm
