Eden Hazard left out of Chelsea trip to Burnley as Xhaka starts at left-back in early kick-offs

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Eden Hazard has not travelled with the Chelsea squad to face Burnley on Sunday, missing out on the match due to a back injury.

The Belgian missed Chelsea’s 3-1 win over BATE Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday but the club had hoped he would be fit enough to return, though it has come too soon.

Instead Willian and Pedro start as Maurizio Sarri’s two wingers, flanking either side of Alvaro Morata who will be looking to improve on his two Premier League goals so far.

Thursday night’s hat-trick hero Ruben Loftus-Cheek is once again on the bench for the Blues with Ross Barkley, who scored a last-minute equaliser against Manchester United last week, starting ahead of Mateo Kovacic in midfield.

Chelsea’s opponents Burnley have made just one change from the team which were thumped 5-0 by Manchester City last time out with Robbie Brady returning from injury to replace Aaron Lennon. The Irishman will have fond memories of playing the Blues, scoring a free-kick at Turf Moor in a 1-1 draw two seasons ago.

Sunday’s other early kick-off sees Arsenal take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park knowing a win could momentarily see them move to second in the table.

And Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has opted to start midfielder Granit Xhaka at left-back once again, due to the Gunners’ current injury problems in that position.

The Swiss international first made the switch to left-back at half-time during Arsenal’s win over Leicester and continued their from the start of their Europa League victory against Sporting Lisbon.

Young midfielder Matteo Guendouzi takes Xhaka’s place in midfield alongside Lucas Torreira while Mesut Ozil captains the Gunners.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace have made one change from the team which lost 2-0 to Everton a week ago, with Jordan Ayew coming in for Jeffrey Schlupp to start alongside Wilfried Zaha.

Chelsea and Arsenal fans react to their starting line-ups

Without Hazard to call upon for the first time in the league this season, Chelsea fans were not happy to see Sarri’s attacking trio.

Meanwhile Arsenal fans were unsure on Xhaka slotting in at left-back once more.

The post Eden Hazard left out of Chelsea trip to Burnley as Xhaka starts at left-back in early kick-offs appeared first on Squawka News.



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