Another capital test for Everton
Following yet another turbulent weekend and the controversy of a disallowed goal and Carlo Ancelotti’s red card, Everton are back in the capital this Sunday for a testing match at Chelsea.
Everton have a very poor record in London, (except against West Ham!), and Chelsea are no exception. The Blues haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since a 1-0 win back in the 1994-95 season.
The Toffees defeated Chelsea 3-1 at Goodison Park in December in Duncan Ferguson’s first game as interim manager, although it was closer than the score suggested. However this match will be a different proposition, especially given the Blues frailties away from home.
Once again, as with the game at Arsenal two weeks ago, its matches like this that the Toffees have to start consistently getting points from if not winning, if they want to progress.
Chelsea, like their London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham, have had quite an inconsistent season. They have been showing some promise, especially in the form of young players like Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic. However inevitably with such a youthful side they have had some poor results too.
Under Frank Lampard the Stamford Bridge club are in a period of transition. They seem to be trying to move away from simply spending big on hiring high-profile foreign coaches and players and instead concentrating more on developing their own young starlets.
The west London club are a very attacking side but do have a habit of conceding leads and late goals, something Everton have also too often been guilty of.
Chelsea are sitting fourth but are still only seven points ahead of the Toffees. Of course had Everton secured at least a draw at the Emirates and got all three points as they should have last Sunday, then that gap would be much smaller.
As for the Blues and their boss, Ancelotti is obviously going back to his former club where he enjoyed great success, winning the Premier League and FA Cup double in 2009-10.
In terms of who is available for him to pick from, it seems that left-back Lucas Digne is fit again and in contention although Seamus Coleman is now out for several weeks after going off early in last Sunday’s match.
Coleman’s absence is going to present Ancelotti with a conundrum. Djibril Sidibe will be starting at right-back, however he has been exposed defensively in both the last two games. This is something that Everton will have to find a way to deal with collectively.
Central midfield is also, as always, difficult too. Morgan Schniederlin is still apparently unavailable and so its probable Ancelotti will stick with Tom Davies alongside Andre Gomes. This is not the ideal combination, but it’s the best that seems to be available.
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Up front there is further good news as it appears as though Dominic Calvert-Lewin is about to be offered a new contract. This is hard on the heels of the announcement this week that Mason Holgate has penned a new five-year deal.
As I mentioned earlier, having all three of Everton’s best young players tied to long-term deals will be great news for the club and is a real statement of how much these individuals are buying into the project that Ancelotti is now steering.
As to Sunday’s result, while I think Everton will score and I’d like to think the Toffees can secure all the points, I have a feeling that the Blues defensive weakness will mean conceding at least one goal seems almost inevitable and therefore a draw is probably the most likely outcome.