Chelsea welcome Everton to Stamford Bridge to close out this block of the season before heading out on international break. We predict the Blues keep up their undefeated ways against the Toffees.
Ross Barkley will be the main talking point for this game even though he will likely spend most – if not all – of the game on the bench. Maurizio Sarri will go for his best XI, and for the time being that has Mateo Kovacic in the midfield with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante.
Scott Brant: Chelsea 2 – 1 Everton. With Ross Barkley facing his former team, I’m hoping he has an extra motivation to show out. Alvaro Morata could use a goal, as well, to help him along.
Every time I think of playing Everton, I think of that wild match where John Terry scored a late goal to squeak out a point in a 3-3 thriller after opening the day’s scoring with an own goal. It would be nice to have a match just as entertaining, but with a different result. Three points are a must. Watch for Gylfi Sigurdsson to have an impact for Everton – they go as he goes. Goals for Morata and Barkley.
Barrett Rouen: 3 – 1. Everton will be tougher than usual. Yerry Mina will make his debut and stifle the life out of Morata by simply standing next to him. But Eden Hazard will score and continue to show how magical and magnificent he is.
The Blues dominate but don’t keep a clean sheet because we seem to be morally against them at the moment. Young King Kepa Arrizabalaga will make several saves and continue to demonstrate that he has jumped quite quickly into the best goalkeepers in the world list. What a perfect person he is.
Nate Hofmann: 2 – 1. It may be the Ross Barkley Derby, but this match will be all about Richarlison and Eden Hazard. Will they play? Will they be any good? All signs point to Hazard being ready to go, although a full 90 minutes seems unlikely. If Everton are indeed sans Richarlison, goals will be hard to come by. If Chelsea are especially lucky, they’ll be granted the thing every opposing team’s wish for against Everton: Cenk Tosun.
Everton under Marco Silva have seemed a bit like a house of cards. They look great when everything is working, but you can feel that they’re never more than a moment away from folding in on themselves. I expect folding on Sunday. Morata and Barkley to score. Dominic Calvert-Lewin with a consolation goal.
George Perry: I agree with Nate: this game will come down to Richarlison. Not the result – the Blues will win, regardless. The question is how many goals will Chelsea need to score to overcome the gratuitous goals the defence – not Arrizabalaga – ships to or because of Richarlison.