When are we going to finally see Chelsea play up at a level commensurate with their paygrade? When will this team that cost approximately 10 billion trillion GBP start looking dominant and winning trophies? To quote Milhouse van Houten on The Simpsons: “When are they going to get to the Fireworks Factory?”
While they are undefeated in their last five league fixtures that is a misleading statistic. Three of those results, including last weekend against the worst team in the entire league, were draws. In other words, they’re still dropping points right and left.
Everton at Chelsea FC FYIs
Kick: Mon. Apr. 15, 8pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
Preview Material: Team News for Both Sides Starting XI Prediction
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 57% Draw 22% Everton 21%
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Standing : Everton 16th, 27 pts Chelsea 9th, 44 pts
PL Form: Everton WDLLL Chelsea DWDWD
Against Everton on Monday night, anything other than taking all three points is very unimpressive. The Toffees have not secured safety yet, but they are in a decent place to avoid relegation. Getting docked for all those points certainly hurt them, but with some work down the stretch here they can still easily avoid the drop.
Starting XI Prediction vs Everton FC
Djorde Petrovic; Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Marc Cucurella; Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Conor Gallagher, Mykhailo Mudryk, Cole Palmer; Nicolas Jackson
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.