Everton vs Chelsea Match Preview- Can The Blues Break Their Goodison Curse?
Match Facts:
Everton v Chelsea is always a game that you can never place a bet on. The results are always
unpredictable to say the least.
In their past 20 meetings, Chelsea have come away with 9 wins, and Everton with 7. The
teams have only drawn the match 4 times in the last 20.
In their last 5 games against each other, both Chelsea and Everton have won twice and
drawn once.
Last season, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea found a struggling Everton side extremely hard to
beat, as Chelsea only came away with 1 point from a possible 6. In fact, Chelsea’s last 4 trips
to Goodison Park have ended in defeat. This is Chelsea’s longest active losing streak to a
team away from home.
Everton, despite noticeably struggling in defence over the past few seasons, have managed
to keep 5 clean sheets in 9 games against Chelsea, (W4, D3, L2).
The Toffees have also gone unbeaten on the opening day of the Premier League season for
the past 10 seasons, their last defeat coming to QPR in the 2011/2012 season.
However, Chelsea are also strong performers on the opening weekend of the season. The
Blues average an impressive 2.10 points per game ratio. In their last 30 opening games in
the Premier League they have won 19 games and drawn 6.
Chelsea have only lost 4 of their 29 away matches under Thomas Tuchel, all by a 1 goal
margin.
News and Predicted Teams
Everton
Everton have made bold moves in the transfer market, picking up James Tarkowski and
Dwight McNeil from a relegated Burnley side. Ruben Vinagre has also signed on a season-
long loan from Sporting CP, after featuring for Wolves in the Premier League last season.
There are also many stories surrounding PSG midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye. The Senegalese international is expected to be making a return to his former club in the coming days.
Everton’s outgoings have also been substantial, as Cenk Tosun, Fabian Delph and Jonjoe
Kenny have all been released. This is as well as the lucrative sale of Richarlison, to
Tottenham Hotspur.
With all the movement of players at Everton, predicting which players Frank Lampard is
going to field against his former team, is quite difficult. Their performance and line-up on
Saturday are something to keep a close eye on.
Chelsea
Thiago Silva recently stated that communication in Chelsea’s defence is “no issue.” New
signing Kalidou Koulibaly is said to communicate with his backline in French, as Silva, Cesar
Azpilicueta and Edouard Mendy are all fluent speakers. Both Silva and Koulibaly are both
expected to start for the Blues on Saturday.
Strong rumours around Chelsea’s defence are spreading at Stamford Bridge, as Thomas
Tuchel is still keen to bolster his squad. Chelsea has supposedly hijacked Manchester City’s
pursuit of Brighton left back Marc Cucurella.
Chelsea’s first choice left back (and left-wing back of course), is England’s Ben Chilwell.
However, he sustained a serious ACL injury last season, and is still yet to fully recover. His
minutes in pre-season have been limited, as he makes a cautious return to the team. With
this, rotation is needed. Chelsea’s natural replacement for Chilwell is Marcos Alonso, of
whom is currently seeking a move to Barcelona. Therefore, the signing of Cucurella opens
the door for Alonso to move and allows for Ben Chilwell’s recovery to be timely rather than
rushed.
Brighton’s player of the season Cucurella, offers versatility, being able to play at left back,
left wing back and left centre back.
Cucurella signing for The Blues is something has not yet progressed. Chilwell very clearly
needs a gentle return to the top-flight and Alonso’s position at the club is yet to be
determined. With this, it is unknown who will start on the left-hand side of Chelsea’s
defence on Saturday.
New signing Raheem Sterling is expected to make his debut for Chelsea on Saturday, as is
Koulibaly.
Chelsea is expected to line-up in their highly effective 3-4-2-1 formation. Tuchel did try
some varied tactics in pre-season, lining up with 4 defenders at the back in a few games. It
can be said though, that this formation was far less effective, and far more susceptible to
conceding goals.
A forward trio of Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling has
looked promising in pre-season, and all 3 of their names are predicted to be on the team
sheet on Saturday evening.
Frank Lampard coming up against his former team, is always a game to be interested in.
Both teams have new signings, many of who are expected to play and need to settle.
Chelsea and Everton have both had up and down pre-seasons to say the least, so the game
will more than likely be an interesting contest.
Both teams have higher targets this season. Everton will surely be looking to finish much
higher up the league table, as opposed to finding themselves in the position they were in at
the end of last season. Whereas Chelsea needs to be aiming to bridge the gap between
themselves, Manchester City and Liverpool.