Everton vs Chelsea
How the tables have turned for Everton and Chelsea. A month into the season, Everton were flying high at the top of the Premier League table, with James Rodriguez and other new arrivals lighting up the league.
Meanwhile, Chelsea started slowly out of the gates as Frank Lampard was busy trying to sort out a significantly changed squad and a still-leaky defence.
That’s all changed now. Everton find themselves in horrendous form, winning just one of their last seven matches, while Chelsea have won four of their last five and are right up there as legitimate title contenders.
The two sides now collide at Goodison Park, with the Premier League 2020 betting odds backing the Blues to keep the Toffees stuck near the bottom of the form table.
Talking Points
Everton still can’t rediscover early-season form
The honeymoon period has well and truly ended for Carlo Ancelotti and Everton this season. After going undefeated in their first five games, they’ve now lost four of their last seven matches, with their only win during that time coming against relegation-threatened Fulham.
James Rodriguez, who had such a blistering start to his Premier League career, has cooled off significantly. He already had three goals and three assists in his first five games, but he has had none in the five matches since.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is still finding ways to score, though. The 23-year-old has three goals in his last three games, including the equaliser in Everton’s 1-1 draw away to Burnley last week.
Still, Calvert-Lewin is dependent on his team-mates to create chances. He has been hurt by James’ dip in form, as well as the absence of left-back Lucas Digne, whose pinpoint crosses from the wing have been a crucial part of Everton’s attack.
Fabian Delph, who had been filling in for Digne down the left, also went out injured early against Burnley and is looking doubtful for this match against Chelsea. If he doesn’t pass fit to play, Ancelotti could be forced to field Andre Gomes or Tom Davies as an emergency wing-back.
Whoever fills in down the left figures to weaken an already struggling Everton defence which has conceded 18 goals and has not kept a clean sheet since their opening-day win over Tottenham.
Chelsea’s impressive unbeaten run continues
Chelsea will head to Goodison in great form. Their current unbeaten run is now up to 17 matches (with nine coming in the Premier League) after their 1-1 draw against Krasnodar in their Champions League group finale.
The Blues had already booked top spot in Group E after their 4-0 thrashing of Sevilla the previous week, so Frank Lampard had the luxury of fielding a significantly rotated side against Krasnodar. That means his side should be well-rested and ready to go against Everton.
Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi will both be unavailable due to injury, but such is Chelsea’s depth in attack that they can still field some terrific forwards in Christian Pulisic or Kai Havertz alongside Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud in the front three.
Giroud has earned his way into the starting line-up with his impressive form of late. Aside from his amazing four-goal showing at Sevilla, he also scored Chelsea’s equaliser in a 3-1 win over Leeds.
Werner, on the other hand, hasn’t quite been producing Premier League 2020 highlights of late. The German has not scored in each of his last four starts and missed a number of opportunities against Leeds. But he continues to get into good positions, and you’d fancy him and Pulisic to create more chances against an Everton defence severely lacking in pace.
History
Chelsea hold the edge over Everton in their historical head-to-heads. The Blues have 73 wins to the Toffees’ 57, with 54 draws.
However, Everton have held their own against Chelsea in recent years at home. They’re unbeaten in their last three games at Goodison, including back-to-back wins in 2019. Calvert-Lewin bagged a brace in a 3-1 win in their first meeting last season.
But Chelsea got their revenge at Stamford Bridge as they thrashed Everton 4-0. Giroud got on the scoresheet in that game as he scored the fourth.
Betting Tip
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Everton vs Chelsea | 1X2 Chelsea @ 1.78 |
| December 13, 04:00 (GMT+8) |
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea are still big 1.78 favourites to win despite being the away side, while Everton are 4.10 home underdogs.
It’s hard to choose a result other than another Chelsea win. While Everton have capable attackers in James, Richarlison, and Calvert-Lewin, Chelsea’s defence has improved significantly over the last few weeks.
Meanwhile, the Blues’ star-studded attack will be well-rested when they face off against an Everton backline that has looked shaky for the entire season.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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