Looking to bounce back from a cruel defeat last time out, Everton welcome a beleaguered Chelsea side to Hill Dickinson Stadium for Saturday evening’s Premier League showdown.
The Toffees suffered a 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge and will hope to avoid consecutive defeats against Chelsea for the first time since 2016/17.
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Chelsea travel to Merseyside looking for a fresh start after a week that quickly unravelled their season.
A narrow 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle United was sandwiched between two heavy defeats to Paris Saint-Germain, ending their Champions League run in humiliating fashion.
After losing 5-2 in the first leg at Parc des Princes, the Blues suffered yet another bruising 3-0 defeat at the Bridge as they crashed out in the last 16 following an 8-2 aggregate loss.
The second leg result also confirmed Chelsea’s fourth consecutive Champions League knockout defeat for the first time in their history.
Manager Liam Rosenior, who is now under intense scrutiny, described the result as another “tough night” in the dugout, with his long-term future now hanging by a thread.
Chelsea have managed just four wins in their last 11 matches across all competitions (D2, L5).
The Blues have managed just one victory in their last five Premier League games (D2, L2), which has seen them slip to sixth place, though the gap to the top four remains small enough to keep hope alive.
Chelsea’s defensive vulnerabilities have been relentlessly exposed during this awful run of form. Since the 2-0 win over Brentford earlier this year, Chelsea have struggled to keep opponents out.
They have conceded in eight straight league matches, allowing 11 goals during that run.
Unfortunately, the challenge does not get any easier for Rosenior’s troops with mouth-watering fixtures against Manchester City, Manchester United, and Liverpool on the horizon.
It goes without saying that Chelsea cannot afford any more slip-ups, which makes their upcoming trip to Everton even more ominous as they’ve failed to win their last two visits to the Toffees (D1, L1).
However, they’ll head into Saturday’s contest boasting the joint-second best away record in the Premier League this season after winning seven of their 15 games on the road (D4, L4).
Meanwhile, Everton’s recent momentum took a hit in their last Premier League outings.
After back-to-back wins over Newcastle and Burnley, the Toffees looked set to extend their run, only to concede twice late on and fall to a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Manager David Moyes did not hide his disappointment, describing the result as a bitter one to take.
However, there’s still growing belief in the dressing room that the Toffees can secure European qualification for the first time in nearly a decade.
They currently sit eighth in the table, just two points behind seventh-placed Brentford.
Interestingly, Everton have been in better form away from home, where they have collected more points than at their own ground.
They have the fourth-best away record in the league, picking up more points on the road (24) than they have at the Hill Dickinson Stadium (19).
The Toffees have also won just one of their last seven home league games (D2, L4).
Everton are now looking to win consecutive Premier League games at their new stadium for the first time following their comfortable win over Burnley at the start of the month.
Intriguingly, they’ve lost just one of their last eight Premier League home meetings with Chelsea (W5, D2) but have failed to score in 12 of their last 19 top-flight matches against the Blues.
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Moyes won’t be able to call on injured duo Jack Grealish and Carlos Alcaraz, while Chelsea loanee Tyrique George is ineligible to face his parent club.
Everton are also hoping James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite can play a part in Saturday’s showdown after they both missed the defeat against Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Chelsea will be without Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Filip Jorgensen, and Levi Colwill, while Malo Gusto, Benoit Badiashile, and Jamie Gittens will need to pass a late fitness test.
Everton potential starting line-up:
(4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Jake O’Brien, Michael Keane, James Tarkowski, Vitaly Mykolenko; James Garner, Idrissa Gueye; Harrison Armstrong, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Iliman Ndiaye; Thierno Barry.
Chelsea potential starting line-up:
(4-2-3-1): Robert Sanchez; Malo Gusto, Mamadou Sarr, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella; Moises Caicedo, Andrey Santos; Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Alejandro Garnacho; Joao Pedro.