England Premier League
Saturday 7th December 2019
Kick off at 12:30pm GMT
Venue: Goodison Park
Match Preview:
The 16th round of Premier League games will kick off on Saturday lunchtime when Everton will take on Chelsea.
At the time of writing Marco Silva has just been sacked as Everton manager. There was high speculation that he would be sacked before this game after Everton’s poor run and possibly be replaced by former Everton manager David Moyes.
Everton are coming off of the back of a Merseyside Derby defeat, their biggest loss since 1982, as rampant Liverpool sliced through the Everton defence and won the game 5-2 at Anfield. That was supposed to be Silva’s make or break game. The defeat was damning since Reds manager Jurgen Klopp had made five changes to his side, and whilst the team were still obviously strong, this wasn’t the strongest Liverpool side.
Also for Everton it was more salt in the wounds as they see their local rivals on top of the league with 43 points, broke their personal unbeaten league record of 32 matches, have lost just 1 game in the past 17 months, and have an 8 point lead at the top of the table. In contrast Everton can’t even look in the mirror, and that Liverpool defeat has put them into the relegation zone in 18th place.
Everton have lost 3 games in a row coming into this match and at home they have lost 3 from 7 games. Their last home game ended in a 2-0 loss to Norwich. So it’s all doom and gloom for Everton however it only takes, at this stage, 1 win and they would be clear of the bottom three, although they have a fearsome opponent at the weekend.
Chelsea have been very solid this season, although last week they slowed down and hit a bump, losing to West Ham at home and slipping up in the Champions League. So their 2-1 victory over Aston Villa was very important in midweek and got them on the winning trail again. They have lost a little pace with the likes of Leicester and Manchester City though, and trail City by 3 points.
For Chelsea this season is all about qualifying for the Champions League again and finishing at least in 4th and they have that pinned down at this moment. However the gap to 5th has been reduced to six points and Chelsea will have to kick on again. Chelsea have the 3rd strongest away record in the league where they have picked up 15 points from a possible 21, and they have won 4 of their last 5 games on the road.
Team News:
Everton: There are no new injuries for the club coming into this game, however a number of long term injuries to the likes of Gomes and Gbamin, and Delph is still doubtful.
Chelsea: Free scoring Tammy Abraham picked up a minor knock in midweek but he should be fine to play in this game. Willian has the same problem but is being tipped to recover. Ross Barkley is ill and is 50/50 to recover for this game and play against his former side
Everton vs Chelsea Head to Head:
Last season Everton won this fixture 2-0.
Chelsea have not beaten Everton in the last 3 meetings.
The last 4 meetings have all had under 2.5 goals.
Everton vs Chelsea Prediction:
Another big game for Everton and another difficult one. Chelsea have shown small signs of pressure in the last few weeks but they have much more confidence and look slicker on the ball. The one worry is that their younger very talented players are going to run the Everton defence ragged, especially if Everton's back four show the same poor level of desire as they did against Liverpool . At the same time there is now the motivation for Everton to get out of the bottom three. History says that anything could happen in this match and there aren’t really any patterns.
Even with Silva gone, it’s difficult to see Everton coming away from this game with a win, but perhaps they can get something from it. December is a very tough month with the club rounded out on New Year’s Day when they play champions Manchester City. It is why it is important that the club pick up points at least when at home.
Everton vs Chelsea Betting Tips:
Both teams to score at 1.80
Anytime goalscorer Tammy Abraham at 1.90
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