League leaders Chelsea face a big hurdle in their title run on Sunday as they meet Everton at Goodison Park. The Blues ran riot in the reverse fixture and won it 5-0 at Stamford Bridge in November, with Eden Hazard bagging a double. However, last season Everton beat Chelsea in two of their three direct meetings and both wins were at Goodison Park. Overall, Chelsea have won three of the last six direct matches, while Everton only had those two home wins to celebrate.
Everton are still in the mix for a place in the top six, but their seventh place is now guaranteed and with it the presence in next season's Europa League. They are unbeaten in the last four matches but only won two of them, both at home. In fact, Everton are one of the best teams in the league at home, they would be third in the league table if we would only take home games into account as they were beaten just once in seventeen matches. Manager Ronald Koeman still has a long list of injured players, including Ramiro Funes Mori, Seamus Coleman and Aaron Lennon.
Chelsea are leading the Premier League table with five matches left in the season, but Tottenham are just four points behind them and in exceptional form. The Blues have beaten the Spurs 4-2 in the FA Cup semi-finals last week and won four of their last five matches in all competitions, but the loss at Manchester United allowed Tottenham to close the gap. Manager Antonio Conte has his entire squad available as there are no injury worries and no suspensions either.
Probable line-ups:
Everton: Stekelenburg - Holgate, Jagielka, Williams, Baines - Gueye, Schneiderlin, Davies - Barkley, Lukaku, Mirallas
Chelsea: Courtois - Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill - Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso - Willian, Costa, Hazard
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Everton win - 3.90
Draw - 3.70
Chelsea win - 2.00
Your feedback
Please enter your comment.
Your comment is added.
Comments (1)
sharpe
05/07/17, 08:05:57 PM
It was expected that game to be a really tough test for Chelsea on their silverware push but in the end the breezed past Everton quite easily. Chelsea really was...
It was expected that game to be a really tough test for Chelsea on their silverware push but in the end the breezed past Everton quite easily. Chelsea really was the best organized and more consistent team this season which would make the title completely deserved for Conte and his men. It's a controversial season for Everton but let's say it's relatively good by their standards.
Show more
