Everton vs. Chelsea, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch
Yesterday at 04:03 PM
All we want for Christmas...
Chelsea have a chance to be top at Christmas with a win here and a Liverpool defeat against Spurs following our game on Sunday. That's not a sentence I thought I would write anytime soon after the last couple years of BlueCo ownership, yet here we are. Definitely not in the title race, definitely not. Definitely. Not.
Now, granted, the quality and confidence on display from Enzo Maresca's Blues still feels a bit tenuous. We're still very young. We still have a long ways to go. The ratio of control to chaos still tends to favor the latter a bit too often, and clean sheets remain as elusive as mild takes on Twitter. And Goodison hasn't exactly been a happy hunting ground in recent years, despite Everton's struggles.
But 'tis the season to believe, so let's believe!
Date / Time: Sunday, December 22, 2024, 14.00 GMT; 9am EST; 7:30pm IST
Venue: Goodison Park, Liverpool
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (on pitch); Graham Scott (VAR)
Forecast: Rainy, blustery
On TV: none (UK); USA, Universo (USA); Star Sports 3 (India); Canal+ (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: none (UK); NBC Sports Live, Universo Now (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); SuperSport GOtv (NGA)
Everton team news: It's been a rough few years for The Toffees, one of the Premier League ever-presents, finishing 16th, 17th, and 15th the last three seasons and surviving the drop despite getting to 40 points just once in that time. And it's not looking much better this year, as they're on pace only for 38. (Though I suppose they did collect 48 points last season before their points-deductions for financial breaches were taken into account.)
That said, they are currently unbeaten in five at home (two wins, three draws) and have lost just twice in their last eleven games overall (with six draws). They are the second lowest-scoring team in the league, but only six teams have conceded fewer goals. Very on-brand from manager Sean Dyche.
Midfielders James Garner and Timothy Iroegbunam have been ruled out, while Dwight McNeil is questionable. Young striker Youssef Chermiti, who's been out all season after foot surgery in the summer, is getting close to making his season debut. Chelsea loanee Armando Broja, recently returned from injury himself, is ineligible.
Chelsea team news: Injuries have started to pile up a bit, especially in defense where both Wesley Fofana and Benoît Badiashile are expected to be out for a while, joining Reece James, who at least has returned to partial training recently. Marc Cucurella's one-match suspension comes at a rather inopportune time as well, which could require some creative reshuffling from Enzo Maresca.
Additional concerns include Roméo Lavia not quite getting over his hamstring twinge just yet and Mykhailo Mudryk being on provisional suspension following his positive doping control test. His fate will depend on the B-sample, but it's unlikely to be anything good.
Despite those worries, we have made short work of our opponents on the pitch, with Thursday's 5-1 win in the UEFA Conference League our eighth win in a row in all competitions — the longest such streak since winning 10 in a row (part of 13 in a row in the league) under Antonio Conte in 2016-17.
Previously: Just one win at Goodison in our last seven visits, a 1-0 triumph thanks to a Jorginho penalty in 2022. But we smacked them 6-0 at the Bridge back in April, with Cole Palmer getting four by himself, so hopefully we get more of the same.
