Fresh off an absolute drubbing by arch-rivals Liverpool in the Merseyside derby yesterday, Everton are in a very precarious situation. They are now squarely in the relegation zone and that likely means the end is near for manager Marco Silva. With his being on the brink of getting sacked, there are multiple reports indicating, a familiar face, David Moyes, could be in line to replace him.
When you’re fighting to save your job, the last kind of foe you need to face is a side that resides in the top four, but that’s who’s coming to Goodison Park in Chelsea FC. The Blues have been a bit injury-plagued and thus, up and down lately, but we’ll see what team shows up.
In turning to the team news for this one, Everton may be without Fabian Delph, Seamus Coleman and Beni Banangime as the trio are injury doubts.
They will also be without the services of the injured Andre Gomes and Jean-Philipp Gbamin. Turning to Chelsea, Marco Van Ginkel, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Antonio Rudiger remain long term injury absentees. Ross Barkley hasn’t featured since October, party due to injury, partly due to being in manager Frank Lampard’s dog house.
He was pictured shirtless at a night club recently, and his professionalism was publicly called out by his boss. We probably won’t see him play in this one.
Tammy Abraham scored the first goal in his return from injury against Aston Villa, but he was forced out early due to injury. However, he could go in this one.
“It doesn’t seem too bad in there, so I’m presuming that he’s alright,” Lampard said of the knock on the young striker’s knee. Christian Pulisic has been in form in recent weeks, but hasn’t been on the score sheet in the last two. The young American will look to change that, as Lampard has hailed his extremely high potential.
Chelsea at Everton FYIs
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: Goodison Park, Wednesday December 7th, 12:30 pm
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 45%, Draw 27%, Everton win 28%
Form Guide: Chelsea WLLWW Everton LLLWD
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Everton 1
This one should might be tight, but in the end, hey, it’s time to retread Moyes.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is 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,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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