Date: Sunday 8th March 2020
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
After what may have
been a slightly surprising win (for some of us) against Liverpool in the FA Cup
on Tuesday, today we face the blue side of Liverpool.
Everton are resurgent
under a manager Chelsea know and love, a manager who’s won as much silverware
as we have since he was shamelessly thrown to the kerb by the club. It goes
without saying Carlo Ancelotti will be warmly welcomed and certainly more warmly
than his side, who’ve taken points off us in our last four meetings.
On top of our struggles
for a win against Everton in recent times, we have our inconsistencies this
season and our innate ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of a win. We also
have a squad with more war wounds than the cast from Platoon and you can only question
whether our first choice medics forgot to come back to work in the summer and the
stand-ins are yet to return from the winter break.
Unpredictable outcome
today? Probably (unless it’s a draw!)
MANAGER’S
VIEWS
Going into tonight’s
game, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, says “He’s
(Ancelotti) very well respected in-house and by the fans. He is a gentleman, a
fantastic manager. It was a good season under him (in 2009-10). He’s a great man-manager. On a personal
level, he’s great at striking up relationships. He’s good tactically and has a
great manner. I keep in touch with him now and again.”
Everton manager, Carlo Ancelotti meanwhile, says “It will be an emotional moment for me. I
have fantastic memories of the period I was there. I’m really excited to come
back.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Chelsea, van Ginkel (ACL), Christian Pulisic \(adductor), Callum Hudson-Odoi (hamstring) and N’Golo Kante (adductor) remain out. Tammy Abraham (ankle) is also sidelined again and is now joined by Mateo Kovacic (Achilles) and possibly Willian with a similar problem. Jorginho is also missing through suspension, Andreas Christensen (knock) is a doubt and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is unlikely to be ready for a first XI start, so if everyone under the age of 35 could bring a kit with them, Frank Lampard would be very grateful.
For Everton, Seamus Coleman (thigh) is injured and joins Morgan
Schneiderlin (knee) and Jean-Philippe Gbamin (thigh) on the missing list. Lucas
Digne (calf) is fit again though.
TEAMS
CHELSEA (Possible
line-up): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger, Alonso; Gilmour, Barkley, Mount; James, Giroud,
Pedro
EVERTON (Possible line-up): Pickford; Sidibe, Mina, Holgate, Baines;
Walcott, Gomes, Davies, Sigurdsson; Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin
LAST SEASON
Chelsea 0-0 Everton (11th November 2018)
CURRENT FORM (PL)
CHELSEA: LDDLWD
EVERTON: DDWWLD
OTHER
STUFF
- Chelsea
could lose three consecutive league games against Everton for the first time
since August 1984.
- Everton
are unbeaten in four meetings, winning two, drawing two and conceding just
once.
- Everton
are winless in the past 24 Premier League away fixtures against Chelsea.
- Chelsea
have only won one of their past six league matches, drawing three and losing
two.
- Chelsea’s
tally of five home league defeats this season is their most since 1994-95.
- Everton
have only lost two of their past 13 Premier League matches (W6, D5).
- Since
Carlo Ancelotti’s first game in charge on Boxing Day, only Liverpool and
Manchester City have earned more league points than Everton.
- Everton
have not kept an away league clean sheet since the opening day of the season.
PREDICTION
BBC Sport: Chelsea 2-0 Everton
Sky Sports: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
Sportsmole: Chelsea 2-2 Everton
