Everton can finally end longest away ground barren run at Chelsea

On Monday Everton travel to Chelsea where they haven’t won a league match since 1994. Can the Toffees follow up their recent triumph at Anfield and end an even longer barren run at Stamford Bridge?

This season has seen Everton apparently conquer their away day issues and the Blues have managed nine wins overall and taken maximum points in seven of their last eight matches away from Goodison Park.

The highlight of this great run was of course that fine derby win at Anfield two weeks ago, which ended a 22 year wait for victory at the old enemy’s ground.

Now Everton go to a stadium where it has been even longer since they tasted success. It was in November 1994 when the Toffees clinched a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge courtesy of a Paul Rideout goal. That was quite a while ago and I had just finished University that summer so it feels a very long time ago for me!

In one of those strange coincidences, Monday’s game will also be exactly a year to the day since the Blues suffered one of their worst defeats during Carlo Ancelotti’s reign, a 4-0 shutout at the Bridge that brought an end to the honeymoon period following the Italian’s appointment.

Perhaps fortunately given how dreadful Everton were that day, the season was suspended a few days after that match and the Toffees didn’t play again until later in the summer.

In the twelve months since that defeat, the Blues have made significant progress. They’ve gone from being a struggling side that lacked confidence and direction when Ancelotti took over at Goodison Park, to a team that seems to have growing self-belief and resilience, although there have still been a few inexplicitly poor performances along the way.

This match is not just important for these historical reasons or for the fact Ancelotti will surely want to win at his previous Premier League employers, but also of course because the two teams are neck-and-neck in the race for the top four.

Ironically Chelsea’s last game was a win at Anfield, (something that is becoming a refreshingly regular occurance now!), as they became the latest side to win there on Wednesday night.

That 1-0 victory took them back to fourth and above Everton who had briefly returned to the Champions League places after their single goal win at West Brom.

The key question is who will Ancelotti pick and how will they line up? This is becoming an increasingly difficult question to answer as the team seems to change week by week.

The Toffees boss is becoming a bit like his compatriot Claudio Ranieri who was known as ‘the tinker man’ for his constant changes to his teams. Ranieri did win the Premier League though.

I think generally consistency of team selection is the ideal as constant changes can be dispruptive to a side’s rythmn and self-confidence. However, this situation is probably largely a consequence of injuries which are a particular issue this season and perhaps too Ancelotti’s uncertainty about some of his players.

Anyway for this match I assume Ancelotti will place the emphasis on a very strong and solid defensive performance and so hopefully there will be no changes in terms of the back four.

In midfield I’m also hoping Allan returns and presumably he will as he was rested against West Brom but came on to good effect when the Toffees were holding onto that slender lead.

One player who might need a rest is Abdoulaye Doucoure who has been showing a little fatigue in the past few matches. Recently his energy levels are not quite what the usually are and his passing and distribution has been wayward at times.

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It’s not surprising he’s a little jaded as the Frenchman has played almost every minute of Everton’s season. But I presume he will play again on Monday and then perhaps he can have a rest after that.

Along side these two I think Andre Gomes should probably start. He hasn’t been brilliant recently but his abilty to hold onto the ball might prove useful against a home team that will probably anyway dominate possession. When the Blues can get hold of the ball they will need to keep it and make the best use of it.

Up front I would again argue that perhaps Josh King should get a chance to start alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison in a front three that would stretch Chelsea as much as possible to keep them honest.

As for Chelsea they have been revived since Thomas Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard. The German coach is unbeaten since he took over at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have only conceded two goals since their last defeat at Leicester City. They are a tough side defensively although with some mis-firing forwards they have struggled to score goals recently.

So I would expect a tight and low-scoring match. In fact I suspect this one will be drawn. But if Everton can keep that back door shut, they have the ability with their excellence from set-pieces and the forwards they possess to win this game.

Wouldn’t it be great if the team could end this even longer barren winless run at Chelsea the same season as the Blues finally slayed the Anfield dragon?

Everton can end another away ground barren run

By Matt Townsend | Mar 6, 2021

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