Burnley’s resolve offers a clue as to how Chelsea can be stopped

As he sought to disrupt Chelsea from their relentless rhythm, Sean Dyche may have reminded his players of their 2-0 win over Liverpool at Turf Moor on the second weekend of the season. On that afternoon his Burnley team were able to soak up what was thrown at them then when opportunity knocked punish their opponents by being quick and slick in front of goal.

On Sunday they performed a similar feat and offered a clue to as to where Chelsea might be got at if they are to be stopped. Put simply, the Clarets made Premier League outing No25 the kind of dogfight that was as unwelcoming for the visitors as the bitter conditions and raucous home faithful.

As Antonio Conte said: “You can find difficulty because the pitch is small; this is better for a team that tries to defend and plays the long balls. You have less pitch to cover, and then there is a good atmosphere with the supporters. It is good, right, to have this type of atmosphere in Burnley. For all these reasons, they have these points in the table.”

Of the serious title pretenders only Manchester City await for Chelsea before the campaign ends. Yet though this draw stretches the advantage over Pep Guardiola’s side to 11 points, City will cut that gap to eight if they beat Bournemouth on Monday night. City go to Stamford Bridge on 5 April and if Guardiola’s side win that then the final seven matches of the season will get interesting, assuming City can keep pace with Chelsea up to that point.

Burnley’s prospects had appeared shattered after only seven minutes, when Dyche’s men were prised open by a smooth move that featured a star turn from Victor Moses. The Nigerian’s burst forward and infield pass allowed Pedro to beat Tom Heaton and it seemed Burnley might be steamrollered.

But, no. Just as Jürgen Klopp’s side found Burnley unwilling to bow and the champions, Leicester City, were defeated in the previous home game, so Chelsea’s aim to go 12 points clear of the pack for a first time was stymied. On 24 minutes Robbie Brady’s precisely flighted free-kick gave the former Norwich midfielder a goal on his home debut.

The move that drew the foul came after an injection of pace from Joey Barton caught Chelsea slumbering. Later Barton put in Matt Lowton down the Chelsea left, again showing the visiting defence to be shaky. Both Marcos Alonso on that flank and Moses, the opposite wing-back, were caught out of position enough to concern Conte and give Burnley genuine hope they might score a second.

Chelsea had conceded only six times since they lost 3-0 at Arsenal and the manager made the switch to three centre-backs. The system has remained since that late September day and Chelsea have lost only once – to Tottenham Hotspur – and had played 18 league games before the draw here. Dyche’s pre-game utterances proved shrewd, though. “We have to believe we can [make something happen] because football is full of surprises,” he said. “No one thought Liverpool had any weaknesses until very recently.”

Having found one worth pursuing – squeezing Chelsea – Burnley started the second half going close to capitalising on it as the centre-halves Gary Cahill and David Luiz each missed interceptions and Andre Gray should have beaten Thibaut Courtois from close range.

Just as with Liverpool in August, Burnley’s determination to put boot to throat rattled their opponents.

The response it drew from Chelsea was muted. As snow swirled down, Nemanja Matic, N’Golo Kanté, Diego Costa, Pedro and Eden Hazard all moved up a gear but was this was only from second to third, rather than into fifth.

Michael Keane, who had a fine game containing Costa, said: “Chelsea came out of the blocks strong and caught us cold in the first few minutes. But we have confidence and didn’t let it affect us. We never give in – the manager instils it in us – and it showed today. We defended really well as a team and kept our shape. They are not top of the league for no reason, and have some excellent players, so we were always going to come under pressure. We dug in well and although there was some last-ditch defending, I thought we were reasonably comfortable. We deserved the point.”

They did, and Courtois was also correct. “Burnley away, with their home record, are a really difficult side to play,” he said. “The pitch was not good, there was snow, it was cold and not an ideal situation but we started very well. After the goal we couldn’t find our game from the first 20 minutes. We slipped out of our game and found it hard to create chances.”

This is what City, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool must all try to do: yank Chelsea from their comfort zone and make them question themselves. Otherwise, they will coast to the title.