Chelsea will have a tough test in an away match against an Everton, a side who are slowly pushing away form the relegation zone only losing one of their last five matches. Sen Dyche’s defense has taken charge, only allowing four goals during that span while keeping four clean sheets, but with Chelsea’s attack coming to town, that’s where things will get interesting.
The Blues have exploded under Enzo Maresca, sporting the highest scoring attack in the Premier League with 37 goals scored to their name. But even the defense has become about average, which has the Blues right in the thick of things as the festive period is underway.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Sunday, Dec. 22 | Time: 9 a.m. ET
- Location: Goodison Park — Liverpool, England
- TV: USA | Live stream: Fubo TV (Try for free)
- Odds: Everton +425; Draw +300; Chelsea -165
Storylines
Everton: It’s another match where the Toffees have to lean on their defensive strength, but they have the benefit of being at home and being used to absorbing pressure. When you’re down at the lower reaches of the table, being able to suffer defensively is critical and few teams are better at getting results that way than Everton.
Everton predicted XI: Jordan Pickford, Ashley Young, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko, Iliman Ndiaye, Orel Mangala, Idrissa Gueye, Jack Harrison, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Chelsea: Playing in the early match, the Blues have a chance to go top of the league putting all of the pressure on Liverpool who take the pitch later in the day in a tough away fixture. Marc Cucurella will miss the match due to suspension while Reece James is still out with an injury leaving Maresca without his top fullbacks, but depth has been a major strength as whoever Chelsea plugs in has been able to perform. It’s a benefit of playing in the Europa Conference League where Maresca can get a look at players deeper down the pecking order, something that most managers can only do in training or cup matches.
Chelsea predicted XI: Robert Sanchez, Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo, Axel Disasi, Enzo Fernandez, Jedon Sancho, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Nicolas Jackson
Prediction
No matter how well a defense is performing, you can’t stop Chelsea from scoring and Everton are about to find that out the hard way. Through Cole Palmer anything is possible. Pick: Everton 0, Chelsea 2
