Let’s address the elephant in the room: Sunday is going to be weird. Chelsea is set to travel to Goodison Park to take on an Everton team that is currently on life support in the Premier League. The Toffees are in a position right now to be relegated from the first division for the first time since 1951. However, somehow that’s not the biggest storyline in this match-up. This contest on Merseyside will see Frank Lampard manage against his old club for the first time since his sacking back in January of 2021. His replacement, Thomas Tuchel, will be standing on the opposing touchline as the two strangers go head-to-head for the first time.
The Blues, meanwhile, are in a totally different position than Everton. Whereas the Toffees are third bottom, their weekend foes are third in the league. The west London side is looking to take one step closer to securing a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League. Three points are obviously huge for either side, especially for Everton given Burnley’s result on Saturday. Despite the drastically different situations at the clubs and the noise in the media, this is going to be a scrappy affair. The Blues struggled against the Toffees earlier in the season at Stamford Bridge, will they be able to avenge a poor performance midweek against Manchester United?
Here is how The Pride of London team sees the contest playing out:
Caden Charpentier: 0-4 Chelsea
Mostly just a biased opinion due to how much I dislike Everton Football Club. One of the most dysfunctional clubs in all of the world is about to go down to the Championship, and the Blues will put them in even a deeper hole than they were in before kickoff.
Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 0-2 Chelsea
The players won’t be too bothered about thrashing Lampard and making the Toffees’ relegation fight more difficult—hopefully.
Anthony Gatt: 0-1 Chelsea
Kevin Peacock: 1-3 Chelsea
As Manchester United proved on Thursday, a strong back line, actually just a back line, is more than capable of holding Chelsea’s insipid attack at bay. That said, Everton is having a difficult time of late and with Super Frank—maybe not to Toffees fans—being at the helm of a potentially sinking ship. Thus, it may be Tuchel’s day. The Blues had been on a good run of away results until the previous draw. A top four spot is almost secure and a win would all but seal third place. Chances of Romelu Lukaku scoring against his former club … zero. Goals from Mason Mount, Timo Werner and surprise substitute Ross Barkley (joking) do nothing to help their former boss.
Hugo Amaya: 0-3 Chelsea
Tuchel surely made his feelings clear about the Man United game and he won’t stand for any of the same. Chelsea will dominate the game and avoid any defensive mistakes. Two goals in the first half, and one on the second half, will do the trick for the blues.
Gabe Henderson: 0-2 Chelsea
This will be another hard-fought, grind-it-out type victories from the Blues. Everton genuinely played a decent game of football against Liverpool and I expect much of the same on Sunday. Lampard knows his opponent better than anyone on the planet not currently at the club, which will give him some sort of advantage, right? Regardless, the visitors win behind a goal right before the halftime whistle and around the 70′.
What is your score prediction? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter!