Everton welcome Chelsea on Sunday afternoon and you can find our preview, prediction, team news and predicted lineups below.
Everton vs Chelsea Preview
Pressure has continued to grow for Sean Dyche as his side sit 16th in the Premier League and are just three points clear of the relegation zone.
The Toffee’s did grind out a well-earned point against Arsenal in their last Premier League fixture, drawing 0-0 at the Emirates.
In fact, three of Everton’s last five league matches have ended in a goalless stalemate, with the other two matches ending in a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United and a 4-0 win over Wolves.
Things don’t get any easier for Dyche’s men as they welcome Chelsea to Goodison Park and Enzo Maresca’s blues are on a terrific run of form.
Winning their last eight matches in all competitions and remaining undefeated from their last 11, Chelsea are just two points behind Liverpool.
The Blues can move to top of the table on Sunday afternoon, albeit until Liverpool play Tottenham just a few hours later.
Everton vs Chelsea Team News
The Toffees have no real major injury concerns, but James Garner will miss the match with a lower back problem and Dwight McNeil should return after missing the match against Arsenal last week.
As for Chelsea, defensive injuries have plagued the Blues this year and Wesley Fofana, Reece James and Benoit Badiashile are all set to miss the trip to Merseyside.
Romeo Lavia has also been dealing with some injury concerns but could feature in the matchday squad on Sunday afternoon.
Marc Cucurella will be unavailable for selection after his red card against Brentford in the previous league fixture and Mykhailo Mudryk will be out indefinitely following his suspension due to a failed drugs test.
Everton vs Chelsea Predicted Lineups
Everton: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye, Doucoure; McNeil, Calvert-Lewin, Nidaye
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Veiga, Caicedo, Fernandez, Madueke, Palmer, Sancho, Jackson
Everton vs Chelsea Prediction
Despite Everton’s strong performance at the Emirates last time out, beating Chelsea seems an impossible task for most teams in Europe at the moment.
With that in mind, we expect the visitors to win by two clear goals and this is echoed by their favouring odds on UK betting sites.
Prediction: Everton 1-3 Chelsea
