GW 12: Chelsea vs. Everton

Chelsea against Everton is the game that will kick off our super Sunday and will start what should be a very good day of Premier League football. Both sides won 3-1 in their last matches with Chelsea playing Crystal Palace and Everton playing Brighton. They were very similar games in terms of the scoring as Chelsea and Everton both scored early goals before an equalizer came for the other team. They both showed that they  know how to finish a game of though, and they ended up getting two goals later on. Both teams moved up in the table with Chelsea capitalizing on Liverpool’s tie with Arsenal to move up to 2nd and Everton moving up to 9th. Everton do currently sit 9 points behind Chelsea so this game won’t be one that decides who moves in front of the other.

Chelsea are flying high under Maurizio Sarri at the moment and are 2nd place and have the 2nd most goals. Their defensive record is also quite solid with only 8 goals conceded after 11 games which is third best in the division. Across their last 4 matches Chelsea have averaged 3 goals a game proving that their attack has been free flowing and full of goals lately. Chelsea have played the most successful passes this season with 8018 which is largely up to midfield pass-master Jorginho. Attack shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Chelsea in this one against an Everton side who have conceded 15 already but they’ll need to watch out for strong attacking players like Richarlison, Sigurdsson and Bernard.

As already mentioned Jorginho will be very important for Chelsea in this game as he currently has the most passes in the division up to this point and is on track to beat the all time passing record. He is so crucial for Chelsea as he has made the transition between Conte and Sarri so much smoother and he is a fantastic deep lying playmaker. Of course Hazard will be the player expected to make the magic and to produce opportunities for his teammates. He didn’t start the last game but when Sarri brought him on as a sub he made a big impact getting an assist to help them win 3-1. He now has 7 goals and 4 assists in the PL this season although he’s only started 7 games. He is currently averaging a goal contribution every 62.9 minutes which is outstanding.

Everton have started to pick up some decent form under new manager Marco Silva. In their last 5 games they have won 4 and only lost 1 which was against Manchester United a couple of weeks ago. This means that they currently sit in 9th place only 6 points off the top 4. They have quite a good attacking record and are currently scoring 1.73 goals per match. The problem for them this season has been defence and they’ve only collected 2 clean sheets and have conceded 15 goals in the process. This could be up to the fact that summer signing Yerry Mina has still not made an appearance for the side after coming back from injury and his addition might solidify some defensive instabilities if he comes into the side well.

Richarlison is the player to watch out for in this one and with 2 goals in his last match he’s in really good form. He now has 6 goals this season which is 1 more than he managed in the whole of last season. This new found form is largely related to the fact that he has been moved to a number 9 spot over the last few game weeks and he looks really dangerous in his new position. Defence will be the problem for Everton against this free-flowing Chelsea attack. The player who will be in charge of marshalling this brilliant attacking force is Michael Keane. He has definitely been Everton's standout defender so far an they’ll really be relying on him to produce a inspired defensive performance if they want to keep out Chelsea. In his 9 appearances so far he has made a total 23 tackles and interceptions which is 5 better than his defensive partner Kurt Zouma. He’s also scored a goal and provided 2 assists this season proving that he’s somewhat of a threat on the attack.

Chelsea don’t have too many injury problems going into this game but Fabregas, Ampadu and Giroud are all doubts for this game. None of them are regular starters and none of the injuries are too serious with all players being mere injury possibilities so Chelsea won’t be sweating too much in terms of injuries. Everton on the other hand have quite a few bad injuries to their defence. Zouma is the main problem as he has played 9 matches for the club so far this season and he’ll be a big miss since he’s not allowed to play against his parent club Chelsea where he’s currently on loan from. This will definitely open up a spot for Yerry Mina to play in as Everton’s other centre-back option, Jagielka, is also missing through injury. The final player that Everton are missing is young right-back Jonjoe Kenny who is currently suffering from a knock that he picked up. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem though because Seamus Coleman is back to full fitness and is in good form scoring in their last game against Brighton.

With both teams playing well at the moment and with two very good attacking sides coming up against each other this match should be tight and entertaining. Chelsea haven’t lost against Everton in the last 5 meetings between the clubs and Chelsea have won 2 of the 3 games at home racking up a goal difference of plus 10 against the side. This might show that the result is set in stone especially with Chelsea improving so much as of late, but Everton have some exciting players and manager, Marco Silva like to play an open and expansive game. I still don’t think this will be enough for Everton though and I think Chelsea will edge them 2-1.