Everton face Chelsea on Sunday in another challenging home game as the Blues try to return to winning ways after last weekend’s demoralising defeat at Newcastle.
It’s becoming difficult to feel either particularly excited or optimistic about any upcoming Everton game after so many frustrating and infuriating defeats.
This is another lost season and the Toffees are falling further behind those clubs that Blues fans would consider they should be competing with.
Without another summer of surgery on the team and a significant improvement from a number of players likely to still be at the club at the end of the summer, then I fear next season will be just as disappointing.
I’m not even sure what the right decision is on who manages the Blues going into next season. Should the club stick with Marco Silva or make another change? I honestly don’t know what the right decision is anymore.
Getting back to Sunday, who knows what Everton team will turn up on Sunday? The Toffees are so inconsistent and unpredictable that no one can safely say how the Blues will play or how the match will go.
But given the level of defensive frailty exhibited last Saturday, it seems a good bet that the Blues will almost certainly concede at least one goal, probably from a set-piece.
This degree of basic defensive weakness is becoming the teams’ trademark and is in danger of making Everton a laughing-stock among Premier League sides.
Any team that comes up against the Toffees knows that get a free-kick anywhere near the penalty area, put in a good quality ball and you have a good chance of scoring a goal. This must be addressed.
So what can we expect from Everton’s next opponents, Chelsea?
The Stamford Bridge outfit have been inconsistent recently themselves, generally saving their best performances for the Europa League.
As most people will know their trademark is a refined passing football nicknamed ‘Sarri ball’ after head coach Mauricio Sarri.
The London Blues try to impose this possession football setting their own tempo and dictating a game, particularly through midfielder Jorginho.
Chelsea started the season well but their form gradually dropped off culminating in a humiliating 6-0 thrashing at Manchester City in February.
They have since recovered somewhat but given how competitive the race for the top four is, Chelsea’s best route to the Champions League is probably to win the Europa League.
However they will obviously still want to win as many matches as possible to give themselves two chances to finish in the top four.
In some ways Chelsea are the kind of side Everton should feel a little more confident playing. They are not a big, physical side who rely on set-piece type play and they can be caught on the counter-attack when their passing game breaks down.
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But if I was Chelsea manager Sarri I would be tempted to play Olivier Giroud up front. Given his ability in the air, Everton’s weakness there, and the fact he is coming off a hat-trick in the Europa League this week he might be a good option.
He would also provide a better focal point for Chelsea’s attacks, which as always revolve around the brilliant Eden Hazard. Well let’s hope that Sarri doesn’t read this blog!
But seriously if Everton can play with energy, press effectively and force mistakes from their opponents, then they might well be able to disrupt Chelsea’s style and that would create the chance to beat them as others have.