The current Premier League weekend concludes its slate of action on Monday night when Chelsea hosts Everton. It’s a battle of two very in form sides with Chelsea still undefeated (W7D2) since Thomas Tuchel took over for Frank Lampard on Jan 27.
Meanwhile the Toffees come in having won three in a row, and sitting just behind their opponents in the table, as the race for top four heats up down the stretch here.
Everton at Chelsea FC FYIs
Kickoff: Mon. March 8, 6pm, Stamford Bridge, BT Sport 1
Starting XI Predictions: go here
Odds: Everton 6/1, Chelsea 3/5, Draw 6/1
Form Guide: Everton DLLWWW Chelsea WWWDDW
Referee: David Coote
Team News for Both Sides
Everton comes into this one with a couple disadvantages. The road side brings a much longer list of team fitness concerns while hosts Chelsea are nearly fully fit.
Jean-Philippe Gbamin (achilles, 13 Mar) and Yerry Mina (calf) are still a couple weeks away from returning while Fabian Delph (knock) has a more uncertain timeline, as not much is known about the extent of his injury. In addition, Tom Davies (knock), James Rodríguez (calf) and Seamus Coleman (knock) all face late fitness tests.
So manager Carlo Ancelotti could be limited somewhat in his selection.
As for Chelsea, central defender Thiago Silva is healthy again, but probably won’t get a big workload as he’s still working his way back to match fitness, following a long injury layoff.
Striker Tammy Abraham is a doubt due to an ankle problem.
Prediction: Chelsea 1, Everton 1
Dig in, as prime scoring chances will likely be few and far between in this one.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.