Everton V Chelsea

Everton V Chelsea

Date & Kick-Off: Sunday, 22 May 2011 – 16:00 (GMT)
Venue: Goodison Park

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Preview

Just a month ago and these two were finishing the term better than anyone else. Everton were making their predictable late dash for the European places while a resurgent Chelsea were rapidly closing in on long-time league leaders Manchester United. It’s all gone Pete Tong in recent weeks however, and instead of this fixture having a huge baring on both the race for Europe and the Premiership title itself, it is now somewhat meaningless.

Only minor placings are at stake when the two meet for the fourth time in 2010/2011.

The Toffees are seven-points adrift of Merseyside rivals Liverpool in seventh and so cannot finish either above the locals or in the European places but can drop down to eighth should they fail to pick up a point on the final day and Fulham, who are three-points behind but boast a superior goal difference, beat Arsenal at Craven Cottage.

It would take a dramatic turn of events for Chelsea to relinquish their stranglehold on second, that despite the Blues dropping two-points at home to Newcastle last time out.

According to the players, Chelsea are desperate to end 2010/2011 second in the Barclay’s Premier League and unless they lose at Goodison Park, handsomely I may add, and Manchester City emphatically beat Bolton at the Reebok Stadium, with a goal swing of 12 required in order for the two to switch positions, the west Londoners will at least complete that mini objective. But it will be of scant consolation to the fans, and even more so to owner Roman Abramovich who, if rumours are to be believed, will yield the axe on current manager Carlo Ancelotti after the Italian failed to add to the club’s ever-expanding list of major honours.

The general assumption is that the players don’t want to see the back of Ancelotti. Well they didn’t do his precarious cause any good when throwing away the lead twice at Stamford Bridge last weekend, eventually drawing 2-2 with Newcastle as Chelsea’s search for a win in May continues having been beaten 2-1 by Manchester United a week previous in what was another big-game the Blues failed to bring their A-game to.

Everton also failed to do the business against United in the closing stages of the season, going down 1-0 at Old Trafford on 23 April despite a valiant defensive effort. The defeat, though, proved costly for Chelsea while it’s also had a downward spiral effect on Everton’s close-season form as well. David Moyes’ men have now registered just four points from a possible twelve, with their inconsistency issues that plagued them throughout the first half of the campaign seemingly coming back to haunt them right at the death.

But it would be typical Everton for them to bounce back from the misery of another bitter-tasting defeat, on this occasion to West Brom at The Hawthorns, and claim their second quick-fire scalp at Goodison.

In their last match at home, Everton came from a goal down to overhaul Manchester City 2-1 as the Toffees stretched their impressive run at home to ten unbeaten. Furthermore, Moyes’ team are now chasing a third consecutive win at Goodison Park in the league, and what a way to complete a hat-trick of home triumphs than with victory over second in the table Chelsea, whom have a hold over Everton when it comes to their duels in the Premier League.

While Everton may be unbeaten in their last five meetings in all competitions, including three 1-1 draws this season, a 2-1 victory at Goodison last season is their solitary triumph over Chelsea in the twenty previous Premiership encounters.

Even at Goodison, where Everton have been superb of late and haven’t lost a match in 2011, Chelsea boss the head-to-head with seven victories to Everton’s rather miserly four. Moreover, Everton have won just one of the last nine clashes on Merseyside.

Still, this always had the look of an awkward fixture for Chelsea when eyeing up their title run-in and despite all the damning evidence, which would suggest Everton are a forlorn hope with regards to coming out on top in Sunday’s contest, the Toffees will take some beating on their own patch, especially on current home form.

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Form

Everton – WLDWL (Everton 2-0 Blackburn, Man Utd 1-0 Everton, Wigan 1-1 Everton, Everton 2-1 Man City, West Brom 1-0 Everton)

Chelsea – WWWLD (Chelsea 3-1 Birmingham, Chelsea 3-0 West Ham, Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham, Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea, Chelsea 2-2 Newcastle)

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Head-to-Head

Everton wins: 5
Draws: 16
Chelsea wins: 16

Last 5 Seasons

2010/2011: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
2009/2010: Everton 2-1 Chelsea
2009/2010: Chelsea 3-3 Everton
2008/2009: Chelsea 0-0 Everton
2008/2009: Everton 0-0 Chelsea
2007/2008: Everton 0-1 Chelsea
2007/2008: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
2006/2007: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
2006/2007: Everton 2-3 Chelsea

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Streaks & Trends

Everton are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Chelsea in all competitions, with the last three all ending 1-1, though one was after extra-time in an FA Cup replay.

However, the Toffees have only won four of the eighteen Premiership encounters at Goodison Park (W4 D7 L7), and just one of the last nine.

Everton haven’t lost a league match at Goodison since losing to West Brom at the end of November, winning six of their ten home games since.

In seven of their last nine home league games, Everton have scored precisely two goals including in each of their previous four.

Midfielder Leon Osman has scored in three consecutive home games for Everton.

Chelsea have lost just one of their previous seven away matches in the Premier League, though it was their most recent; a 2-1 defeat to newly crowned champions Man Utd.

That defeat to Manchester United is Chelsea‘s only reverse in the league for twelve games.

Frank Lampard has netted four goals in as many games away from home for Chelsea.

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Match Prediction: Draw – 3.40 bWIn

These two are labouring towards the finish line and it wouldn’t be a surprise in the slightest were the fourth encounter of the season between the two to end all-square.

Chelsea are favourites, and I suppose rightly so. Carlo Ancelotti’s team have lost just one of their last twelve league fixtures – just one of seven away from home – while the Italian does bring with him an embarrassment of riches in comparison to David Moyes’ threadbare squad at Everton. That said, the Toffees have been very resilient at home during the whole of 2011 and won’t want their ten-game unbeaten home run to come to an end on the final day.

Although their overall record with Chelsea is extremely poor, lately Everton have been a thorn in Chelsea’s side, having gone their last five meetings unbeaten, and with home advantage to boot I suspect Everton will be good for at least a point, though probably no more that.

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Match Odds

Everton – 3.25 Boylesports
Draw – 3.40 bWin
Chelsea – 2.38 VictorChandler

Everton V Chelsea

Saturday, 29th January – 12:30 (GMT)
Venue: Goodison Park
TV Coverage: ESPN

Everton

Still shorn of his leading goalscorer as Tim Cahill continues his quest for success over in Asia with Australia, David Moyes must somehow plot Chelsea’s demise this week well aware that his side have a dismal record against their London foes. A 2-1 triumph at Goodison Park during last season’s league campaign remains Everton’s only stand-out result against their London rivals in a quite remarkable barren spell of eleven years, a result the Toffees simply have to emulate at the weekend if they’re to watch Sunday’s tea-time draw with excitement and not resentment over another barren campaign without any silverware.

In many ways, Saturday’s midday date with Chelsea is an opportunity for Everton to face up to their demons, as not only is their overall record with the West-London outfit terrible to say the least – having won just one of the last 27 meetings, it was Chelsea who ended their pursuit of the 2008/2009 FA Cup, Everton agonisingly losing 2-1 in the final despite taking an early lead through Louis Saha, the Frenchman having scored four goals in his last four appearances against the two-time defending champions.

David Moyes has rued the fact the club no longer have any financial clout to continue thrusting fresh impotence into the squad, however, it could have its benefits at the weekend. The majority who were involved in the 2008/2009 final won’t exactly have fond memories despite a rare forage to Wembley, so it shouldn’t take a great deal for Moyes to rally his troops. Then again, what with the likes of Joleon Lescott, Steven Pienaar and Yakubu having moved on since without Moyes filling the voids, you do wonder how on earth a side which has made very little progress since that final, particularly the lack of improved personnel at the club, will even be able to compete with a rejuvenated Chelsea team who appear to be back to winning ways.

If Everton’s form over the last decade against Chelsea is cause for concern, there form over the last couple of months will probably be the final nail in Everton coffin as far as convincing the punters they are worth taking a chance on. Since the beginning of November, Everton have won just three of fourteen games. Interestingly, however, two of those were against opposition of similar calibre to that of Chelsea in Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, while we shouldn’t forget that the Toffees gave Chelsea one of their hardest games of the season back in December. It would appear Everton’s ability to ride to the occasion hasn’t vanished despite the fact many of their key players over the years have.

Team News: Tim Cahill is David Moyes’ only absentee, the Everton boss boasting a clean bill of health ahead of Chelsea’s arrival on Saturday. Yakubu is, of course, out on loan with Leicester City while Steven Pienaar recently completed his move to Tottenham Hotspur on a permanent transfer.
 

Chelsea

It would be fair to say that Chelsea’s aspirations of defending their Barclay’s Premier League crown appear all but dead in the water despite their recent resurgence in form, however the Blues can at least take heart from the way they began the defence of their FA Cup title, Carlo Ancelotti’s men brushing aside Championship opposition in the previous round in the form of Ipswich Town (7-0) and that result coincided with their recent upturn in form means Chelsea have all of a sudden become a far more appealing betting proposition ahead of their Fourth Round encounter with Everton on Saturday.

So Chelsea appear to have their swagger back? Ipswich Town (7-0), Blackburn Rovers (2-0) and Bolton Wanderers (0-4) have all been put to the sword by a reinvigorated Chelsea over the last two weeks, a ruthless Chelsea. It’s a stunning turnaround in form which has plenty to thank the FA Cup for, a competition which has been kind to the Blues over the last two years. Not since January 3rd, 2009, when drawing 1-1 away to Southend United, have Chelsea failed to win an FA Cup tie, and on Saturday, when they pay an Everton side a visit who they’ve beaten just once in their last six meetings, will set out to extend their winning run in the competition to a quite remarkable fourteen games.

It is easy to get carried away with Chelsea’s current renaissance. Three successive wins, all by an impressive margin of victory, is definitely a platform upon which Carlo Ancelotti can build from following what was a torrid finish to the first half of the campaign. But even so, some sense of perspective is perhaps required in order to avoid getting too hasty with a supposedly rejuvenated Chelsea. After all, all three of their wins were routine ones over Ipswich Town, a team struggling in the Championship; Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, albeit the Blues overpowering them all to win all three games with an aggregate score of 13-0.

If we still haven’t convinced you to air on the side of caution, perhaps the fact Chelsea’s Monday night victory over Bolton at The Reebok was their first for nearly two months, ending a dismal run of results on the road which had seen the Blues suffer five defeats in their last seven away contests, and not all to world-class opposition either (Birmingham City 1-0 & Wolves 1-0), will. Plus, it was Everton who gave Chelsea a run for their money earlier in the season over at Stamford Bridge, a match Everton actually dominated to be fair.

Team News: Frank Lampard sat out Monday’s 4-0 win at Bolton with a calf problem although is expected back for the trip to Merseyside this weekend. Alex, Yossi Benayoun and Yuri Zhirkov all remain sidelined with injuries. The expected arrival of David Luiz from Benfica is no nearer to completion, meanwhile Gael Kakuta has gone out on loan to Fulham for the rest of the season.
 

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2010/2011 FA Cup Results

Everton

Third Round: Scunthorpe United 1-5 Everton

Chelsea

Third Round: Chelsea 7-0 Ipswich Town

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Pointers

Everton

- Everton have won only one of their last six home matches (5th January: Everton 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur), though are without defeat in their last three (W1 D2 L0).

- A 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic (11th December) and a 1-0 loss to Newcastle United (18th September) are the only two occasions where Everton have failed to find their opponent’s net in their last 27 matches at Goodison Park.

- Louis Saha scored home and away against Chelsea last season as Everton collected four points from a possible six in the league against the Blues.

- Will be without their talisman and leading goalscorer Tim Cahill for Saturday’s clash, the Aussie having racked up nine goals for the term but is currently away with the Australia national team in Qatar, Asia.

Chelsea

- Have won their previous three matches without conceding, recording comfortable wins over Blackburn Rovers (2-0) and Bolton Wanderers (0-4) in the league as well as a 7-0 rout of Ipswich Town in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

- Before last Monday’s comprehensive victory over Bolton at The Reebok, Chelsea hadn’t won away from home since 30th October (eight games).

- Chelsea haven’t conceded a goal in the FA Cup for six-and-a-half-hours, not since Michael Chopra of Cardiff City scored at Stamford Bridge on 13th February, 2010.

- Nicolas Anelka has now scored in his last three starts.

Head-to-Head

- Everton have won just one of the previous 26 meetings with Chelsea, though the Toffees were winners of the last Goodison Park encounter. A Louis Saha brace cancelled out Florent Malouda’s opener as Everton came from behind to win on 10th February, 2010.

- These two have met nine times in the FA Cup, Chelsea bossing the head-to-head with six wins to Everton’s meagre two.

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Match Prediction: Draw – 3.50 Coral

In fairness, Chelsea aren’t the worst bet in the world at the odds. I presumed they would be far shorter than their odds-against price, though their odds are justifible considering how frustraing they’ve been for the best part of three months, despite their sudden turnaround in form.

I’m afraid three straightforward wins over Ipswich Town, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers doesn’t quite erase what has been an appalling last couple of months for Carlo Ancelotti and his Chelsea team, who nevertheless have an impressive record against the Toffees but were beaten convincingly in their most recent visit 2-1. Moreover, the Londoner’s were completely outplayed when the two sides met earlier in the season at Stamford Bridge. The Blues registering a point from that fixture was almost criminal.

Everton, meanwhile, well they haven’t been much better if truth be told. I’ve lost count of the amount of times they’ve come a cropper in fixture they should have won at a cantor but ended up losing.

Neither have been a reliable source of betting income this season, so I don’t see why either should be backed. If anything, Everton would get a tentative vote. The Toffees have this uncanny knack of raising their game in the crunch encounters with the country’s big hitters, having beaten the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham at Goodison this season, as well as beating Manchester City at Eastlands. Granted they will be without Tim Cahill, their top-scorer and talisman, but this Everton team has an abundance of character and rarely turns up for a clash with one of the country’s big boys lacking in spirit and determination to make haste of their underdog status. You’d be foolish to write them off on Merseyside.

Value Bet: Over 3.5 Goals – 3.50 Boylesports

It should be an entertaining affair. Chelsea have been scoring goals for fun of late while Everton haven’t exactly been shy in front of goal either. Plus, four of Everton’s last five games at home have produced at least three goals.

Match Odds:

Everton – 3.75 WilliamHill
Draw – 3.50 Coral
Chelsea – 2.10 BetFred

The English Premier League

Midweek Fixtures

Tuesday, 9^th February 2009

19:45 GMT – Manchester City (1.44 Bet365) V Bolton Wanderers (9.00 SkyBet)

19:45 GMT – Portsmouth (2.50 PaddyPower) V Sunderland (3.20 VCbet)

19:45 GMT – Wigan Athletic (2.25 Boylesports) V Stoke City (3.60 VCbet)

20:00 GMT – Fulham (1.73 Bet365) V Burnley (5.50 PaddyPower)

Wednesday, 10^th February

19:45 GMT – Arsenal (2.10 Bet365) V Liverpool (3.90 Expekt) ARSENAL V LIVERPOOL DETAILED PREVIEW!

19:45 GMT – Aston Villa (4.30 VCbet) V Manchester United (1.91 Boylesports) VILLA V MAN UNITED DETAILED PREVIEW

19:45 GMT – West Ham United (2.30 PaddyPower) V Birmingham City (3.50 Coral)

19:45 GMT – Wolverhampton Wanderers (4.50 SkyBet) V Tottenham Hotspur (1.91 Bet365)

20:00 GMT – Blackburn Rovers (1.91 VCbet) V Hull City (4.50 Boylesports)

20:00 GMT – Everton (5.50 BlueSquare) V Chelsea (1.73 Bet365)

Live Games:

Manchester City V Bolton Wanderers – Sky Sports 2

Arsenal V Liverpool - Sky Sports 2

The live action kicks off with Man City entertaining Owen Coyle’s Bolton at The City of Manchester stadium as the home side aim to bounce straight back from their shock defeat to Hill City at the weekend. The blue half of Manchester are still dreaming of Champions League football for next season, but could find themselves settling for The Europa League if City‘s performances don’t improve, starting with the arrival of Bolton Wanderers, a side who themselves cannot afford to drop too many points, with Bolton hovering just above the relegation zone. A victory for Man City would lift them above Liverpool and into fourth position, their target destination, whereas defeat for Bolton could see them go into the weekends fixtures in the relegation zone if results elsewhere don’t go in their favour. Another shock, however, an away win for Bolton, could lift Bolton as high as 14^th in the table.

No doubt the fixture which has the most appeal, especially with neutral viewers, is the Arsenal V Liverpool clash which will be shown LIVE on Sky Sports on Wednesday night. Arsenal, after yet another defeat to a title rival, pin their revival challenge on a victory over Liverpool on Wednesday night as The Gunners fall nine points off the pace after their 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Liverpool, though, have their own reasons, equally as important, as to why they desperately need all three points as they aim to cement their top four stance with their first win at The Emirates since 2000. Liverpool are having to fend off the challenge from Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa & Man City for a Champions League berth next season and will boost their chances of finishing in fourth spot immensely with victory over The Gunners. A victory for the away side, a Liverpool WIN, would also bring Arsenal right back into the equation and loosen up two Champions League spots instead of the solitary one the teams have been chasing for the past two or so months. A big game in which a win for either side could have a huge impact on how the positions at the top of the table could be finalised.

The rest of the action goes as follows; Portsmouth, a team who appeared destined for the drop after news of yet more financial unrest, take on Sunderland at Fratton Park in a home fixture they just have to win. However, you wouldn’t fancy either sides chances, with Pompey losing five of their previous six league encounters and Sunderland not winning a Premiership fixture since the middle of November, going eleven games without a win. With this in mind, perhaps a small punt on the draw (3.30 Boylesports) could be worthwhile?

It’s a relegation six-pointer at The DW stadium as Bolton take on Wigan Athletic in a must win clash for either side. For now, though, both are on dry land but a loss for either side could see them spend the rest of this week in the bottom three. Home advantage does make Wigan the favourites, although they haven’t won in three at home, while Bolton won’t attract too many punters after not managing an away win since September, going seven games without any success on the road. Also, both teams are still searching for their first win of 2010. Not another draw (3.40 Boylesports), surely?

Fulham are going through an indifferent spell of late but have now opened up another potential unbeaten run after going two games unbeaten following their 0-0 draw away at Bolton. A win for the Cottagers would keep them in the upper half of the table until the weekend. Their opponents, however, are struggling to fend off the relegation zone but did give their chances a big boost with victory over West Ham United on Saturday, winning 2-1 at Turf Moor. However, Burnley are big ‘underdogs’ in this contest as they haven’t won an away fixture all season, losing 11 of 12 away Premiership fixtures.

A stuttering Aston Villa play host to a Manchester United side on fire at the moment. Villa have managed just one league victory in their last six, which is in stark contrast to their opponents who have won four on the trot, five in their last seven and are unbeaten in seven games. However, Villa are on the verge of completing an historic league double over United but are in need of a big performance to beat the Premiership champions on Wednesday night. Defeat for Villa would dampen their charge for a top four finish while victory for United would keep the pressure on Chelsea, perhaps even take them top if Chelsea don’t produce the goods elsewhere at Goodison.

West Ham meet Birmingham at Upton Park in a rare meeting for both sides. However, it’s Birmingham who arrive with the better form after returning to winning ways with a 2-1 win at home to Wolves. The Hammers, however, succumbed to their eleventh defeat of the campaign as they lost 2-1 at Burnley. West Ham are desperate for points though, but will need a mammoth display to overhaul Birmingham, whom have lost just once in fourteen league fixtures. However, West Ham are unbeaten in three at Upton Park and are boosted by their flurry of forward arrivals in January, so perhaps the home side can overpower a tough and resilient Birmingham side.

Wolves go seeking a first win in seven as they entertain a Tottenham side who have drawn far too many games recently. However, the same could be said for Wolves in terms of losing games, with Wolves losing four of their last five league games, whilst Tottenham have drawn four of their last seven. However, surely Tottenham will be fired up for this encounter and should be good for the win in the knowledge that they must avenge the home defeat they suffered at the hands of Wolves back in December. The problem for Spurs though, has been scoring goals, with Harry Redknapp‘s side scoring just one in their last three away outings. Wolves haven’t been much cop in front of goal either, with Mick McCarthy‘s men not scoring a single goal in any of their last three home fixtures. Perhaps a drab affair (Under 2.5 Goals – 1.85 SportingBet) could be on the cards at Molineux?

Another potential six-pointer as Blackburn welcome the arrival of Hull City in a game they will be supremely confident of getting all three points in. Rovers have played their best football, and gotten the vast majority of their points, in home games this season and should be too strong, on paper anyway, for their opponents, Hull, who haven’t won away from The KC stadium all season. Hull were annihilated in their last away fixture, losing 4-0 at Man City, and they could fall to a similar fate at Ewood Park as Blackburn Rovers have won their last two fixtures at home, beating both Fulham & Wigan Athletic. An away win is big, but tasty nevertheless, and it’s not asking an awful lot to expect a big performance from the Tigers after their weekend heroics over Man City, beating the mega-rich Manchester club 2-1 at The KC on Saturday.

Another eye-catching fixture is the last on the card – Everton V Chelsea. I’m sure most of you will remember the problems Everton caused Chelsea’s defence in the earlier meeting between the two at Stamford Bridge of which Everton scored three. Of course, Chelsea did put the same amount past Tim Howard but it was Everton who claimed the plaudits that day and are still to this day the only team to have taken anything away from Stamford Bridge. However, the two sides had contrasting results at the weekend, with Everton losing a bitter derby contest with Liverpool and Chelsea winning their London derby with Arsenal. Everton were, though, unbeaten in nine before their loss at Anfield, but has the momentum been lost and will Chelsea continue their surge as they set out to make it six wins in seven in the Premiership.