Chelsea plays newly promoted Burnley as they look to attain three points on the first match day of the new season

For many fans, a Chelsea side without Frank Lampard is unthinkable. However, Chelsea no longer has Lampard in their side. Jose Mourinho might have let one member of the old guard go but he has allowed another to return. Although Didier Drogba is back at Chelsea, he will not play a role in this match due to injury. Ramires is also out of this one due to suspension. For Burnley, Sam Vokes is out.

Jose Mourinho has big decisions on his hand. He has a finished product in Diego Costa, who is highly capable of leading the line. Will he start Costa against Burnley? There is a slightly bigger conundrum for Mourinho than the striker question though. He has to figure out who he will start in goal. At this point, it seems Thibaut Courtois is set to start ahead of the veteran, Petr Cech, who is seemingly on his way out of the club.

Mourinho has an embarrassment of riches to select from. He has a World Cup winner in his ranks in Andre Schürrle. He also purchased another former World Cup winner from Barcelona, Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas has performed well for Chelsea in friendlies. Now, he has to emulate previously excellent performances for Arsenal for one of their biggest rivals.

Burnley is returning to the Premier League from the Championship and their campaign will center around a bid for survival. They can be expected to park the bus to at least earn a point on the first match day of the new season. Chelsea needs to post all three points in order to hit the ground running.

A slow start can go on to be problematic later. Also, all of Chelsea's main rivals have strengthened and are coming into this campaign stronger than before; even Liverpool, despite the loss of Luis Suarez, have added depth to their ranks.

Can Chelsea get off to a winning start?

Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels:

Watch Burnley vs Chelsea live on Monday, August 18, 2014:

In the US at 15.00 EST on:

In Canada at 15.00 ET on:

In the UK at 20.00 BST on:

In Australia at 08:00 (Tuesday) on: 

Internationally on:

For complete details of match listings and live scores, visit the Burnley vs Chelsea match page.


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