Why Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling will relish Burnley game in search of redemption

Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling generated the decibel level of boos that would normally be generated from the away end of Stamford Bridge when he miscued a free kick against Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals before the international break.

The issue for the England international was that they came from his own supporters, frustrated by Sterling having already missed with a tame penalty earlier in the match and squandered a one-on-one opportunity that appeared easier to convert.

However, all is not lost for the under-fire 29-year-old. Some will argue that having almost two weeks to stew over the negative reaction was a bad thing for the experienced attacker, yet he will counteract that he has had that time period to prepare for one of his favourite opponents.

In terms of a goals/assists ratio, Bournemouth is the team that Sterling has most success against, yet Burnley are not all that far behind.

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Whether Sterling has represented Liverpool, Manchester City or Chelsea versus the Clarets, he has prevailed in 10 of 11 such Premier League fixtures, with the other game ending in a draw.

Furthermore, a total of three goals and four assists have been contributed during those encounters, numbers that do not necessarily stand out until you delve a little deeper.

Five of those contributions have been posted in his last two top-flight appearances against Burnley, a combination of one goal and four assists.

Towards the back end of 2021-22, Sterling set up both of Man City's goals in a 2-0 victory at Turf Moor, with those two assists coming in the opening 25 minutes of the contest.

Earlier in this campaign in the reverse fixture, he would run riot either side of half time, with his cross leading to an own goal from Ameen Al-Dakhil and soon being fouled for Chelsea's penalty shortly after the restart.

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Some will question whether two such occurrences should count as assists, but the point is that Sterling produced his second match-winning performance against Burnley in succession, also getting on the scoresheet 15 minutes later.

Sterling now finds himself on a six-match winning streak against these opponents, dating back to May 2019, and the motivation is there to make it seven when the deck appears stacked against him.

The question mark over whether Sterling will retain his spot in the side has realistically been taken away by injury concerns for other players, potentially leading to Mykhaylo Mudryk remaining deployed down the middle.

Cole Palmer has been passed fit, despite failing to earn game time with England, but Noni Madueke's game time with England Under-21s is likely to lead to Mauricio Pochettino showing preference to the well-rested Sterling.

Meanwhile, the history books suggest that Chelsea will create opportunities against Burnley; the West Londoners are currently on a 17-match scoring streak against the North West outfit in the Premier League - their longest such run in the competition.