Everton will go up against Chelsea in the Premier League at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.
Sean Dyche’s side dug deep and battled hard to earn a 0-0 draw away from home against Arsenal last weekend.
That stalemate has left the Toffees positioned in 15th place in the table, three points above the drop zone.
Back at their Merseyside base this weekend, Everton will look to replicate last weekend’s dogged effort with a view to derailing Chelsea.
The Blues made it five Premier League wins on the bounce with a 2-1 win over Brentford at Stamford Bridge last Sunday night.
Enzo Maresca’s men will now set out to further reaffirm their title credentials by getting the better of Everton at Goodison Park this weekend.
How the bookies view it: Toffees to taste defeat
Everton – who have won just three of their 15 Premier League games this season – are as big as 4/1 with Boylesports to emerge victorious, while the draw is an unfancied 14/5 with the same firm.
Chelsea are odds-on 8/13 favourites with Boylesports to make it six Premier League wins in succession.
Head to head: Everton have good Goodison record
Everton can draw confidence from the fact that they have avoided defeat in six of their last seven Premier League home games with Chelsea, triumphing in five of those contests. Last season’s corresponding fixture ended 2-0 in the Toffees’ favour and a repeat here is trading at a towering 28/1 (Boylesports).
Players to watch: Palmer to put Everton to the sword?
Cole Palmer has scored three times across Chelsea’s last two Premier League away games. While it’s not the most attractive of odds, the Blues talisman looks worthy of interest to register a goal or an assist at Goodison at 8/11 on PaddyPower.
Ashley Young has committed exactly two fouls in each of Everton’s last two Premier League matches and the veteran defender looks overpriced to continue in that vein here at 21/10 on PaddyPower.
Predicted line-ups
Dwight McNeil missed Everton’s goalless draw with Arsenal last Saturday but he could be fit enough to come back into the squad this weekend.
After fielding a second string in a 5-1 win over Shamrock Rovers in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, Blues boss Maresca is expected to revert back to the strongest starting XI available to him on Sunday afternoon. However, Marc Cucurella will miss out due to suspension.
Everton: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye, Doucoure; Harrison, Calvert-Lewin, Ndiaye
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Veiga; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
Anything else catch the eye?
Everton are typically a very strong home team and with the backing of their notoriously passionate home crowd there is potential for sparks to fly.
As such, over 45.5 booking points looks like an appealing option here at 10/11 on Boylesports.
No team has received more yellow cards than Chelsea (52) in the Premier League this season, not to mention referee Chris Kavanagh is averaging a shade under six cards per-game.
This English Premier League match between Everton and Chelsea will be played on Dec 22, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Everton vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
