With my POSITIVE hat on, if any team can at home, we can. Our mentality seems to be one of invincibility. I don`t think it`is the write off as some see it. Listening to a discussion on the radio, ex-pros suggest Chelsea`s only weakness is Moses in a r/h defensive position defending crosses. Dare I suggest playing Brady on our right (no qualms either with Gudmundsson being there) pinging balls into the back post for Barnes to aggressively `attack` the ball (and Moses, so to speak!)?

Regardless, I`m sure we will give it one HELL of a good go!

Score more goals than them.

karatekid wrote:Score more goals than them.

Hard to argue with that line of thought!!!!!!!!

Unleash Ashley Barnes.

In addition to what Hiroshimaclaret has suggested then
a combination of freezing weather; massive support from
the fans; all our players on top form and a huge dollop of luck.

A win will do me.
Any win.
Don't care how we achieve it.

I had a dream last night that we won 8-5. So we're probably going to get battered

Try reading this in the style of Martin Tyler commentating on Aguero's league winning goal.

'The whistles echo around the ground, deep into added time, and it looks like Burnley have taken everything Chelsea can throw at them. Costa loses the ball and Burnley can bring it clear one more time and see the game out. Brady's on the run...is there a final twist...he's got Barnes in the middle...Brady's still going, he's still going...what a ball...BAAAAAAAAAAARRRRNNES!

......................Heaton
Lowton.......Keane....Mee........Ward
..............Barton....Westwood
JBG.....................................Brady
................Barnes
........................Gray

Vokes, Arfield and Boyd coming off the bench if needed.

and
Our father who art.....

dibraidio wrote:......................Heaton
Lowton.......Keane....Mee........Ward
..............Barton....Westwood
JBG.....................................Brady
................Barnes
........................Gray

Vokes, Arfield and Boyd coming off the bench if needed.

and
Our father who art.....

No way will he leave out Boyd with his workrate. This is one game where his closing down will be needed. I think JBG will start on the bench and be brought on second half with Vokes if we are behind.

Get Joey to sort out Kante early doors.

We should have retained Ross Wallace and then......Barnes Wallace could have bounced them and flooded/breached their defence

Lock them in the changing rooms?

String a bit of fishing wire across their changing room door, about ankle height?

IndigoLake wrote:I had a dream last night that we won 8-5. So we're probably going to get battered

That would be one HELL of a game! How did it all pan out?

dibraidio wrote:......................Heaton
Lowton.......Keane....Mee........Ward
..............Barton....Westwood
JBG.....................................Brady
................Barnes
........................Gray

Vokes, Arfield and Boyd coming off the bench if needed.

and
Our father who art.....

Love the suggested line up and the `Our Father` to boot but as Firthy has suggested, there is no way in hell he won`t play Boyd, which is very hard to criticise at home.

I suspect it`ll be -

Heaton
Lowton Keane Mee Ward
Boyd Barton Westwood Brady
Gray Barnes...

...with Boyd and Brady interchanging on a very regular basis.

HiroshimaClaret wrote:That would be one HELL of a game! How did it all pan out?

We won.

Sidney1st wrote:Lock them in the changing rooms?

String a bit of fishing wire across their changing room door, about ankle height?

Would that be an adaptation on the Chelsea smile????

HiroshimaClaret wrote:What`s next...a Chelsea kiss????

A Burnley wallet would surely be more apt!

HiroshimaClaret wrote:That would be one HELL of a game! How did it all pan out?

From what I remember, after we scored the first goal we were always in front. I remember thinking in my dream after the first 6 goals that both defences had just given up. A bit like your average Bournemouth game I guess

ClaretEngineer wrote:A Burnley wallet would surely be more apt!

Strange, isn`t it? Only the other day did it dawn on me where the word `apt` comes from. Sometimes you simply go with the flow with words and phrases and never dig deeper.

Five man midfield and Barnes up front. Would play Gudmundsson but he doesn't seem to be back to full fitness since his recent injury.

------Westwood Barton Arfield
Boyd-------------------------Brady

With a stick while they're sleeping

The other day the odds were Burnley 7-1, Chelsea 2-7.
I think we will do OK. We like taking on teams the likes of Chelsea and will give them a game.

Crowd will play a big part, we need an intimidating atmosphere, lots of rain or sleet and very cold wind will upset them London softies.

ashtonlongsider wrote:Get Joey to sort out Kante early doors.

Seriously, probably the best idea on this thread

I still go with the answer of ''score more than them'' !!!!!!!!!!! (in there net lol)

Passion, determination, hard work, team spirit.

Hostile crowd and battle for everything.

I think we need to be lucky and defend as well as we can. Then grab one or two or three ourselves. Probably from set plays. More than anything we need luck. Cos if it is 50-50 in that department then we lose by a couple.

.................Heaton

Lowton...Keane - Mee....Ward

.................Tarks

JBG.....Barton ...Arf/WW...Brady

................Barnes

LoveCurryPies wrote:Passion, determination, hard work, team spirit.

That should be a given for any team, but sums this Burnley team up perfectly.

I think we can score against them, its whether we can sustain lengthy attacks ourselves without conceding too many.

I fear Lowton in particular will have a torrid time .

Play them at trivial pursuit ?

Start 4-4-2 Usual back four. Brady, Westwood, Boyd and Barton in midfield. Gray and Barnes up front. Get two goals then replace Gray with Tarkowski in front of the back four.

Have it!

One of several things could happen, we play as we have at home and change nothing. Rely on good strong shape and we may get a break and score.

Alternatively, we play as we have at home and change nothing, Chelsea find lots of weaknesses and exploit them to buggery and batter us.

We play as we have at home and change nothing, nil nil with seconds remaining, bertie bee enters the scene and begins kneeling beneath their players causing them to fall over backwards. Big round of applause, Bee gets sent to the cells again, but no time left for chelsea to compose themselves and the whistle blows = 1 valuable point to the clarets.

34 posts and not one cross word in sight! A record?????

There is only one way not to lose against Chelsea. Never let more than 3 of our players leave our half, including corners. We can't cope with the pace of their breaks.

HiroshimaClaret wrote:34 posts and not one cross word in sight! A record?????

It's a positive thread with a positive question...no agendas and a common purpose.

Perfect

The only way to beat Chelsea is to literally 'beat' Chelsea.

IndigoLake wrote:I had a dream last night that we won 8-5. So we're probably going to get battered

That's funny, I had a dream about the game last night as well. In my dream they had 3 men sent off so we won going away.

Will Matic cry off on Saturday night? Barnes only needs to look at him once and his head will be gone.
This is a winnable game. We've played well against the better teams with no luck.
A change in fortune must be due.

How to beat Chelsea...

Might need to tilt it the other way second half!

The only way is to play it exactly as we usually do at home, by taking it to them
and with our hostile crowd behind us and them hopefully having a bit of an off day
(alright, a lot of an off day) and our defence doing what we know they can do, then minnie
is right, its winnable. The midfield is really going to have to pull it's tripe out, though.

If we were to win, it'd be the greatest victory since Robbie blasted United away.

IndigoLake wrote:Unleash Ashley Barnes.

Have Barton lead him out on a chain, wearing a straight jacket and Hannibal mask, unleash him only moments before kick off.

Put Boyd on Alonso for a start. We need to limit his impact. Brady vs Moses will be interesting too. Then sit Barnes slightly behind Gray and allow his to niggle and frustrate Kante at every opportunity. Barton and Westwood can sit deeper to offer support against their forwards. Mee and Keane can hopefully kick Costa early on so he loses his head. Easy.

jlup1980 wrote:Put Boyd on Alonso for a start. We need to limit his impact. Brady vs Moses will be interesting too. Then sit Barnes slightly behind Gray and allow his to niggle and frustrate Kante at every opportunity. Barton and Westwood can sit deeper to offer support against their forwards. Mee and Keane can hopefully kick Costa early on so he loses his head. Easy.

Excellent point. Alonso has been superb at coming in from his wing late and getting to the far post.
With us playing Lowton and Ward narrow once opposition gets to our penalty area he could have a lot of success behind Lowton. Boyd will need to drop back with him.

Isn't the most pertinent question - how do Chelsea beat us?

We have a slightly better home record than their away record. If I was a betting man, I'd be putting my money on a draw.

Arte et marte.

That's all you need.

With the help of a typical freezing cold, wet, miserable, blustery East Lancashire Sunday lunchtime. Those Jessies such as Costa, Hazard, Fabregas and Alonso don't like it up 'em you know!

jlup1980 wrote:Put Boyd on Alonso for a start. We need to limit his impact. Brady vs Moses will be interesting too. Then sit Barnes slightly behind Gray and allow his to niggle and frustrate Kante at every opportunity. Barton and Westwood can sit deeper to offer support against their forwards. Mee and Keane can hopefully kick Costa early on so he loses his head. Easy.

I think this is probably about right. Its basically our usual approach - i.e. two banks of four with minimal space between the lines and wingers work hard in defence.

I expect Boyd and Brady (I think he'll play because he's quicker, a more natural wing back and also because his set pieces could well be an asset) will play as de facto wing backs, pushing onto Alonso and Moses and tracking them all the way back. Barton and probably Westwood will then sit deep, in front of the back four, which will sit narrow. The full backs will notionally take responsibility for watching Pedro and Willian (assuming Hazard is, as reported, injured), but the idea will be to deny the space between the midfield and back 4, or between the full backs and centre halves.

If we get all that right, then we'll be aiming to get Matic and Kante (who are excellent players but not necessarily playmakers) struggling to find passes, so going back to the centre backs. Barnes in particular will press those two, and he and Gray will also press the Chelsea back 3 when they get the chance, with Boyd and Brady and possibly Barton also pressing when they get a chance. But fundamentally, it will be similar to the way we played against Liverpool in the summer, and the way we played against Spurs just before Christmas when we played well (albeit in losing) against a similar system, and the way we played against City when we beat them and drew with them two seasons ago, when they played a roughly similar system. We will sit deep-ish but I think we'll be willing to press up the pitch when we get the chance - our main priority will be denying Chelsea's inside forwards pockets of space in which to operate, so those two screening midfielders will have a massively disciplined job to do.

Tough ask, but it can be done.

We shouldn't fear Chelsea any more than we feared the sides that have beaten them!