The Premier League weekend concludes with a Monday Night Football this week which sees the attention turning to the capital as Chelsea welcome Everton to Stamford Bridge for another key game in the top flight.
The Blues will have an eye on a push for the European places over the final few matches while Everton have their sights on remaining in the division so there is a need for the points on both sides going into this one.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Monday Night Football programme which will be shown on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels. The show begins at 6.30pm ahead of the 8pm kick off.
Chelsea
There has been a lot of conjecture and ridicule aimed at Chelsea this season, much of it deserved but some of it overhyped in this world of hyperbole, however should they win this match they would move within three points of a spot in Europe next term, and while the Europa League wouldn’t have been their aim at the beginning of the campaign, given that they haven’t been in Europe this season it would represent the beginning of a turnaround.
When you consider the doom and gloom picture that has been painted around Chelsea this term, it is easy to forget that they go into this match unbeaten in seven in the Premier League, albeit a draw at Sheffield United last week isn’t what they would have been looking for, and five days out from an FA Cup semi-final. Chelsea seem to have found a groove in front of goal but their big issue has been the number they have conceded and that is likely to be next on the list for Mauricio Pochettino to solve.
Everton
This has been another season of going nowhere for Everton and now a second point deduction has left them fearing for their survival in the division. Things are still in their own hands regardless of what happens in their impending appeal of their second loss of points but they won’t want to lose here ahead of a crunch showdown with Nottingham Forest at the weekend. Last time they were deducted points there was a positive reaction. They’ll be looking for similar again.
Everton head to Stamford Bridge with four points from their last two matches but they haven’t looked overly convincing in those games, with their goals in those outings being a penalty and a goalkeeping error. Scoring goals has been a problem for Everton all season with just Sheffield United having fewer to their name than the Toffees. You get the impression if they are going to stay in this league this term they are going to need someone to step up in front of goal.
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Team News
The Chelsea team news was going to be interesting anyway but it looks like Robert Sanchez and Raheem Sterling will miss out with illness and there are doubts over Axel Disasi and Enzo Fernandez. Ben Chilwell is in line to return for the Blues though.
Everton boss Sean Dyche has confirmed that he will have Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana and Arnaut Danjuma will return to his squad for this match but he wasn’t so certain about Dominic Calvert-Lewin who has a minor hamstring issue.
Betting
I don’t think you can trust either of these sides to win the game but I do think we might see a fair share of goals because Chelsea look like they have found a groove in attack and have the particularly impressive Cole Palmer in decent form, but their defence looks all over the place and even against a goal shy Everton you would worry about it, especially when you consider they have just conceded twice against even less frequent scorers in Sheffield United.
Since the winter break, the nine Chelsea matches in the Premier League have averaged 4.56 goals per game and there was an FA Cup tie in that run which they won 4-2 against Leicester City. Everton matches haven’t been quite as high scoring in that time but when considering a play on over 3 goals I’m not sure Everton are a factor here. Chelsea have kept one clean sheet in their last 13 matches but they have scored in their last 14 and the way goals are going in at both ends in their matches at the minute I think the 3 goal line has to be taken. They could cover this on their own but statistics recently suggest Everton are likely to contribute to the scoring.
Tips
Back Over 3 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.88 with Bet365
