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Chelsea: Three things to look for as the Blues travel to Everton

By Gabe Henderson

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 08: Frank Lampard, Manager of Chelsea embraces Carlo Ancelotti, Manager of Everton after the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC at Stamford Bridge on March 08, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 08: Frank Lampard, Manager of Chelsea embraces Carlo Ancelotti, Manager of Everton after the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC at Stamford Bridge on March 08, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Chelsea’s English head coach Frank Lampard (R) gestures with Chelsea’s English midfielder Callum Hudson-Odoi at the final whistle during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Norwich City at Stamford Bridge in London on July 14, 2020. (Photo by RICHARD HEATHCOTE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea’s English head coach Frank Lampard (R) gestures with Chelsea’s English midfielder Callum Hudson-Odoi at the final whistle during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Norwich City at Stamford Bridge in London on July 14, 2020. (Photo by RICHARD HEATHCOTE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /

Chelsea travels to Everton for the first time since December of 2019. There are a lot of storylines surrounding the match, here’s three things to look for.

Next up is the Blues against the Blue … well, Toffees! The last time these two teams met was way back in March when fans were in attendance to watch Chelsea’s Billy Gilmour steal the show in a massive victory at home. Now fans will return to Goodison Park for the first time since that same month, which seems like an eternity ago, especially with how different each team looks. Frank Lampard’s side will travel up north to Liverpool where it’ll meet a Carlo Ancelotti-led Everton for the first time in nine months.

The match has a lot of interesting talking points surrounding it, but here are some of the main things to look for:

1. How does Chelsea cope with injuries?

Lampard announced following the most boring 90 minutes of my life—also known as the home tie versus Krasnodar—that Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi would miss around two weeks with their respective injuries. Ziyech injured his hamstring a few days ago against Leeds United and Hudson-Odoi allegedly suffered a knock in training leading up to the Krasnodar bout. The two were undoubtedly in line to make appearances over the last few days given Chelsea’s lack of depth on the wings. The focus now turns to hope the Blues will deal with these setbacks.

The long-term well being of the team (and yes, three games qualifies the outlook for this classification) obviously is the first thing that comes to mind. Lampard elected to play with two midfielders in advanced positions against Krasnodar and that could be the case while Hudson-Odoi and Ziyech are absent. Kai Havertz is looking fit again and while he’s unlikely to start out wide at Everton, he will have a part to play in the coming weeks.

Perhaps the biggest question though is whether or not Tino Anjorin remains with the first team for this brief stint—or even maybe the entire season. The youngster was named on the bench against Everton last season and made his Champions League debut against Krasnodar, looking comfortable and hungry throughout. He’d certainly add to the depth out wide during the absences of 2/3 of the wide men, but Lampard won’t have a problem selecting his wingers against Everton. The issue will be how long do the Blues wait before taking them off?

If Anjorin is part of the team or Havertz is on the bench, they could replace either—or both—Christian Pulisic or Timo Werner if the game gets out of hand in favor of the London side. It’s a long season and the Blues have five more matches before the turn of the year, so how the gaffer rotates is definitely something to keep a watchful eye on.

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