2. Ross Barkley’s debut against his old team delayed, and possibly denied
This will be Ross Barkley’s first game against his former club. The Goodison Park travelling faithful may be proud to see how well he is doing this season for club and country. Or they may resent what he has become at Chelsea after years of his promise at Everton.
They may not even recognize Barkley at first. Barkley has lost the boyish curls and powerful but, um – let’s go with cuddly – physique he had at Everton. He has a military-grade haircut and scarcely an ounce of body fat. His new look since the summer reflects the discipline and intensity he put into his game since being left out of England’s World Cup squad. He is now raw desire and focus, which is paying off under Maurizio Sarri and Gareth Southgate.
But Barkley will almost certainly not be in the starting XI on Sunday. Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s hat trick in the first game against BATE Borisov knocked the midfield rotation off its gimbal for a few weeks. Loftus-Cheek and Barkley started showing up a bit more often as Sarri, in his typically incremental way, managed starts and substitutions across three competitions to get back to normal.
Mateo Kovacic was already in line to start against Everton, based on the rotation scheme coming back into balance. The dip in form from the two English midfielders over recent games will settle any lingering questions Sarri may have had about who should start alongside Jorginho and N’Golo Kante. Chelsea need Kovacic in the midfield as a breakwater against opposition counter-attacks. Barkley is slightly better than Loftus-Cheek defensively, but not enough to protect the defence for an entire game.
Sarri will want Kovacic in the starting XI to prevent Everton from building any momentum through the midfield. And with Eden Hazard close to full fitness, Kovacic is the best midfielder to support Hazard’s offence. They have a quick understanding on playing one-two’s through the middle and Kovacic knows how to cover Marcos Alonso’s underlapping runs with Hazard. He is overall a better support for the Belgian than Barkley.
Barkley may come on as a substitute, particularly if Maurizio Sarri needs additional offence in the final 20-30 minutes of the game. But Barkley may not have the chance to do much more than look at his old team, wave at the fans and hopefully not endure any jeers.