Chelsea can take another big step towards securing their place in next season's Champions League with a win against Everton on Sunday afternoon. But with the Toffees scrapping against relegation this is a game that will be anything but straightforward.
A 2-1 win for Burnley against Watford on Saturday lifted the Clarets back above Everton and even above Leeds in the battle against relegation and Frank Lampard will not want to be the man who takes them out of the Premier League for the first time. It will be the first time Lampard has managed against Thomas Tuchel since being sacked by the club at which he is regarded a legend, so he may well have a point or two to prove.
Thursday night saw Chelsea spurn a number of gilt-edged chances, with Kai Havertz the biggest culprit, despite providing Marcos Alonso with an assist for his goal. It has left him with a potential headache ahead of the clash with Everton although he emphasised his faith in his front-line after the game.
"He needs to fight back into his shape," Tuchel said of Havertz. "It is like this, I have the same feeling. Hopefully, he shows a reaction. The guys are still young upfront and we will not start pointing fingers because lately, they have been very, very composed and very efficient in front of goal. Against Southampton and in the win at the Bernabeu, we took our chances very well and very precisely.
"It's like this. When we look at the data and think about who plays and who does not play, we see a huge amount of intensity and sprints from Kai and Timo (Werner). So they don't arrive fully, fully fresh at the moment in these matches and that's why we will always protect them because it's a team game we play and we demand a lot off the ball to have high recoveries. But I agree, in the last weeks, he had a kind of shape and form that he would've put this game to bed for us."
So what options does the boss have at his disposal? With that in mind, football.london takes a look at the full squad at Tuchel's disposal
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcus Bettinelli
Defenders: Trevoh Chalobah, Malang Sarr, Thiago Silva, Marcos Alonso, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen
Midfielders: N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Saul Niguez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount
Forwards: Kenedy, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner
