Chelsea dealt Reece James blow as full-back problems mount ahead of Burnley

October 05, 2023 at 12:40 pm GMT+1

Chelsea travel to Turf Moor on Saturday, October 7, to take on Burnley as they look to build on their latest victory.

The Blues have struggled for form this season but a win over Brighton in the League Cup and a 2-0 victory vs Fulham on Monday makes them favourites vs a Burnley side whose only win this campaign came against Luton Town.

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Burnley vs Chelsea

October 07, 2023

3:00 pm GMT+1

Who needs full-backs?

Reece James has been fined £90,000 by the FA and banned for one game after using ‘improper, abusive and insulting’ words and behaviour towards a match official following Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last month.

James has missed much of the season with a hamstring problem he picked up in training back in August so he was a doubt for Saturday anyway, but any chance of an early comeback is now 100 per cent off the cards.

James’ ban comes at a time when Mauricio Pochettino has a full-back crisis. Ben Chilwell is expected to be out for around two months with a thigh injury, whilst Marlo Gusto is serving a three-game ban after being sent off vs Aston Villa. This leaves centre-back Levi Colwill to cover at left-back and left-back Marc Cucurella to fill in on the right.

On a more positive note, Armando Broja, who scored for Chelsea vs Fulham on Monday, confirmed he was not taken off due to an injury in that game: “No injury, just a precaution. I’ve been out for a while, so it was always hard for me to come back and play the full 90 minutes. I did get a bit leggy just before I came off, so it was just a precaution.”

In turn, the 22-year-old is expected to lead the line for the west Londoners once more this weekend and is 15/8 to score anytime with Betfair.