Burnley boss Sean Dyche says the defeat to Leicester last time out was a reminder of the importance of “getting the details right”.
The Clarets had lost only one of their previous seven matches and taken seven points from their last three prior to being beaten 2-0 by the Foxes at Turf Moor on Tuesday.
Dyche – whose side are 18th in the Premier League, a point adrift of 17th-placed Everton having played a game more – said ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Chelsea: “We weren’t far off (against Leicester).
“We gave away two sloppy goals in the end that cost us, but the general performance wasn’t far off, it just wasn’t as clear-focused and clear-minded as we have shown in performances recently.
“I just felt it was one where kind of we added to the fact that it went away from us. We didn’t play with the clarity we have been and we gave away two soft situations.
“Nick Pope had played very well and made some big saves for us, and we actually conceded from two situations that we didn’t need to. If a couple of the other ones had gone in against Popey, I would have held my hands up, but we kind of didn’t do the things we normally do to prevent two situations which led to their goals.
“So that was my main bugbear. I felt we were on such a good performance level over so many games, and I just felt the energy was right but the detail wasn’t right.
“We’d done well with that over the previous seven games, so we have to remind ourselves of how important that is. The other night does remind you of that – you need to get the details right all the time in the Premier League, otherwise you get punished.”
Burnley beat Chelsea’s fellow ‘big six’ side Tottenham 1-0 on February 23, while the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge in November ended 1-1.
Dyche said of Thomas Tuchel’s third-placed Blues: “There’s a bit of noise as if they’re not as strong as they were, but at the end of the day they’ve only lost one in 10 (league games).
“That’s a message in itself. They are still a very strong outfit – maybe just not currently where Liverpool and Manchester City are, but very strong.
“We have to be realistic with that – equally, we have found ways of operating against these teams and we’re going to have to do that again.”
The match will be Chelsea’s first league outing since Wednesday’s announcement that Roman Abramovich is to sell the club.
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