Forget Barcelona or Arsenal, Burnley is Chelsea’s most important fixture | OneFootball

Saturday lunchtime will set in motion the notoriously congested festive schedule, with Chelsea playing roughly every three to four days for the next month. Burnley, Barcelona, Arsenal, Leeds, Bournemouth, Atalanta, Everton, Cardiff and Newcastle are all to be faced before Christmas! Enzo Maresca’s skill in squad rotation will be tested more strenuously than ever as Chelsea battle to maintain progress in three competitions.

The Crucible awaits, first let’s get through this week

A blockbuster week awaits after their trip to Lancashire this weekend, with a mouth-watering reunion with Barcelona followed by the arrival of league leaders Arsenal. It is understandable why many eyes drift beyond Saturday toward the glamour of those two fixtures.

Naturally, the atmosphere, pressure and attention from the footballing world are incomparable to a trip to Turf Moor. But that does not erase the gnawing feeling that the first fixture back presents the biggest obstacle — even if that sounds absurd.

Objectively, both Barcelona and Arsenal are technically and tactically superior. But the contradiction with Chelsea is their frequent inability to match their levels of focus and quality in “bigger” games compared to the ones they are expected to breeze through.

Burnley marks the third time this season that Chelsea have travelled away immediately after an international break. The previous two brought mixed fortunes: a 2–2 draw at Brentford and a 3–0 win over Nottingham Forest. What both encounters had in common, however, was rapid rotation in the starting lineup and erratic periods within the performance.

Despite eventually strolling to victory at the City Ground, an error-strewn first half was rescued more by Forest’s poor finishing than by Chelsea’s brilliance. Similarly, the Blues started slowly at Brentford and went into the break 1–0 down. In both games, Maresca had to salvage things from the bench.

Rotation, rotation, rotation

Concerns over rotation were widespread after the draw at Qarabağ, but rotation is not an evil — it is a necessity during such a demanding run of fixtures. The real concern will arise 75 minutes before kick-off on Saturday if a host of unexpected changes appear. Are all of them necessary? And will they only create avoidable disruption that has to be fixed from the bench?

Dealing with a physical opponent sitting in a low block is more troublesome for Chelsea than facing a side willing to attack them with a high line. It is in these game states that Chelsea’s approach comes under the most scrutiny.

To give the blockbuster Arsenal clash even higher stakes, Chelsea must keep pace with the Gunners. To make it three Premier League wins in a row — something they have yet to achieve this season — Saturday’s performance cannot be played with midweek in mind.

It is understandable that certain considerations must be made after an international break, but starting Malo Gusto in central midfield or pairing Tosin with Jorrel Hato as centre-backs is simply asking for trouble.

A balance can be struck. And this time, Enzo, please — just start Estevão.

You can follow my coverage of Chelsea on YouTube at SonOfChelsea. More written coverage of the club on Substack. Follow me on X for more thoughts, along with listening to the podcast.