If for plenty of Chelsea players the international break served as a welcome break and an opportunity to take stock, it is to be the last they get this side of Christmas.

Chelsea face a busy festive period, with Saturday’s trip to Burnley the first of nine games in just 29 days.

Burnley sit fourth bottom in the Premier League and have shipped more goals than every team bar West Ham and Wolves.

Here is a great opportunity for Chelsea to claim another three points and build on their position of third in the table, behind only Arsenal and Manchester City. Burnley have kept just two clean-sheets all season and can clearly be got at.

Perhaps even more important, though, is what lurks around the corner.

Pivotal matches arrive next week for Enzo Maresca and his young squad: a blockbuster C

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