Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are riding on a purple patch of form at the moment having picked up four wins on the bounce in the Premier League since suffering a twin blow at the hands of Arsenal and Liverpool in September.
The ouster from the League Cup at the hands of West Ham was Chelsea’s only low point from a spectacular October. With the absence of European commitments, Antonio Conte’s side have begun to set the pace in the Premier League having picked up four consecutive wins since their losses to Arsenal and Liverpool back in September. Moreover, for a side that were slammed for their defensive shortcomings early on in the season, the Blues have managed to maintain clean sheets on all those four encounters while scoring 11 past their opponents.
Needless to say, they will hold the upper hand going into the Stamford Bridge clash against Ronald Koeman’s Everton. The Merseysiders haven’t managed to establish a consistent run of form and that most certainly has cost them a place or two in the Premier League table. With that in mind, the Toffees will resolve to make up ground with a victory against Chelsea on Saturday in what certainly promises to be a feisty encounter.
Team News and Tactics
Chelsea
Cesc Fabregas and Kurt Zouma made their long-awaited return to first-team training last week but Conte expects them to feature in competitive action only after the international break. John Terry will hope he can make a first league start of the season after his ankle injury sidelined him for the entirety of Chelsea’s league action so far in 2016-17.
Conte is expected to stick with his 3-4-3 formation with Chelsea having improved their defence over the course of the season so far. The Blues haven’t conceded in four Premier League games now, which is a great sign of progress for the Italian after his side failed to keep a clean sheet in 5 of his first 6 league matches. The back three of David Luiz, Azpilicueta and Gary Cahill have come into their own in recent weeks and put up some solid performances, and that is exactly what Conte will expect against an Everton side oozing with strength, attack, pace and creativity on all quarters.
Victor Moses has been a revelation this season for Chelsea, with the Nigerian finally finding the form that earned him a move to Stamford Bridge in 2012. With 3 goals and an assist from 11 appearances this season, Moses seems to have cemented a place for himself in Conte’s system with his tireless energy and pace working to the Blues’ advantage when on the attack. He is expected to partner along with Nemanja Matic, N’Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso in a four-man midfield with Pedro, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard forming the attacking trio up top.
Possible Starting XI (3-4-3): Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill;Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Costa, Hazard
Everton
Maarten Stekelenburg returns to action after missing The Toffees game against West Ham last week due to a foot injury. The Dutchman was pivotal in Everton coming away from the Etihad with a crucial point after he saved two penalties off Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne. Hence his return will prove to be a massive boost for Ronald Koeman’s side going into yet another tough visit to Stamford Bridge.
However, the likes of Leighton Baines and James McArthy haven’t fully recovered from the hamstring injuries and can be expected to be sidelined for the Chelsea clash. Summer recruit Idrissa Gueye remains absent as he serves his three-match suspension while Enner Valencia could return to the squad after being ineligible to face his parent club West Ham last week.
The Bridge hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Evertonians in the Premier League era and with a Chelsea side in rampant form at the moment, it could prove to be yet another testing afternoon for the Toffees on Saturday. It is there to be seen whether Phil Jagielka returns to the first team set-up after Koeman dropped the Englishman in favour of Ramiro Funes Mori against West Ham.
Possible Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Stekelenburg, Coleman, Williams, Funes Mori, Oviedo; Barry, Cleverley; Bolasie, Barkley, Mirallas; Lukaku
Key Stats
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 21 home Premier League games against Everton since a 0-1 loss in November 1994 (W11 D10). Only against Tottenham (24) are they on a longer unbeaten Premier League run at Stamford Bridge.
- Everton’s run of 21 games without a win is their longest away at another club in the Premier League. Only against Leeds (36) have they had a longer away run without a win in league history.
- John Terry rescued a point for Chelsea in this exact fixture last season, scoring after 97:53 minutes to make it 3-3 – the latest goal recorded in the Premier League in 2015-16.
- Everton have scored exactly three goals in three of their last four Premier League meetings with Chelsea, failing to score in the other (W1 D1 L2).
- Chelsea have exactly double the number of points (22) that they had after 10 Premier League games last season (11).
- Yannick Bolasie has assisted four goals for Romelu Lukaku this season, which is more than any other player for a single team-mate in the Premier League this season.
Player To Watch Out For
Chelsea : Diego Costa
Diego Costa has been among the best players in the on-going Premier League season so far, sitting top of the charts with 8 strikes to his name. He will be the man Everton will look to keep at bay and it’ll take a superlative effort from the likes of Williams and Funes Mori to manage that.
Everton : Romelu Lukaku
It promises to be a mouth-watering showdown between two of the in-form strikers in the Premier League at the moment and with players like Barkley, Bolasie and Mirallas to service the big Lukaku up-top, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Chelsea have their run of clean sheets ended by the Toffees’ outfit on Saturday.
Prediction
Chelsea 2-1 Everton
It certainly promises to be an entertaining game on paper with both the sides boasting an array of attacking talent and defensive stalwarts to project a fascinating battle at Stamford Bridge. But given Chelsea’s record against Everton at home and their recent run of form, it’s hard to see beyond a favourable result for Conte’s side. That said, the Evertonians can be a pretty hard nut to crack themselves and on their given day can upstage any team in the Premier League and Koeman will hope Saturday lies witness for one such encounter.