Everton vs Chelsea preview, prediction, team news and head-to-head

• Over 2.5 goals

• Both teams to score

• Chelsea to win

Everton are looking to bounce back from their cruel defeat to Arsenal with a home assignment against another side from the capital, Chelsea, on Saturday. Five points separate the two sides at this stage of the season.

The Toffees produced a resilient showing against Mikel Arteta’s side at the Emirates Stadium. They were disciplined at the back and also produced the clearest chances in the game before an individual error right at the end swung the contest in Arsenal’s favour.

There were plenty of positives to take from their display in London, though, with Dwight McNeil hitting the woodwork and David Raya denying goal-scoring opportunities on another couple of occasions.

Chelsea, for their part, head to Merseyside desperate to reset after a nightmare week that saw them suffer a 1-0 Premier League home defeat to Newcastle in between two losses against Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, crashing out in the last 16 after a bruising 8-2 aggregate defeat.

The Blues, who were comfortably beaten 3-0 at home in the second leg on Wednesday, have now lost four successive Champions League knockout matches for the first time in their history. The pressure is mounting on head coach Liam Rosenior after what he described as another “tough night” in the dugout.

READ HERE: Chelsea are shattered, Rosenior is under fire - Why our expert says the Blues won't win at Everton

Chelse now have just four wins across their last 11 games in all competitions (D2 L5). This includes a run of one victory in five Premier League games (D2 L2) which has seen them slip to sixth in the table.

However, they still remain in the hunt for Champions League qualification as they sit only three points behind fourth spot with eight games remaining.

Everton have lost just one of their last eight Premier League home games against Chelsea (W5 D2), going down 1-0 in August 2022. The Toffees have also failed to score in 12 of their last 19 Premier League games against Chelsea, including each of the last four in a row. 

Overall they’ve drawn a blank in 28 Premier League meetings with the Blues, only doing so more against Manchester United (29).

Following their 2-0 win in December, Chelsea are looking to complete the league double over Everton for the first time since 2016-17. They have failed to win their last two league visits to Everton (D1 L1 - both at Goodison Park), but they head into Saturday’s contest boasting the joint-second best away record in the Premier League this term (W7 D4 L4).

Everton Premier League form: 🟩🟥🟥🟩🟩🟥

Chelsea Premier League form: 🟩🟧🟧🟥🟩🟥

Chelsea form (all competitions): 🟥🟩🟩🟥🟥🟥

Everton will be without injured duo Jack Grealish (foot) and Carlos Alcaraz (unspecified), and Chelsea loanee Tyrique George is ineligible to face his parent club. James Tarkowski (unspecified) and Jarrad Branthwaite (thigh) are also doubtful after missing the defeat at Arsenal.

If neither Tarkowski nor Branthwaite are available to return, then James Garner, Jake O'Brien, Michael Keane and Vitaliy Mykolenko could all keep their places in a four-man defence. Garner could, however, move back into midfield to partner Idrissa Gueye.

Set to face his former club, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is enjoying his best top-tier season; he leads Everton for Premier League goal involvements (nine), and sits third in terms of both chances created (27) and expected assists (4.1).

As for Chelsea, they have made a total of 96 changes to their starting lineup in the Premier League this season, the most of any team and already more than they did in the entirety of last season (95), and Rosenior is forced to make at least one change this weekend.

Trevoh Chalobah was stretched off with an ankle injury in midweek and will join Reece James (hamstring), Filip Jorgensen (groin) and Levi Colwill (knee) on the sidelined, while Malo Gusto, Benoit Badiashile (both illness) and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (hamstring) will all be assessed.

If Gusto is not fit to feature, then either Malang Sarr or Josh Acheampong could deputise at right-back, while Wesley Fofana is set to replace Chalobah at the heart of the defence.

In more positive news, Estevao was back on the bench - albeit as an unused substitute - against Paris on Tuesday. Joao Pedro has been involved in eight goals in his last eight away matches across all competitions (seven goals, one assist) and he is set to start again up front.

Everton: Pickford; O'Brien, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye; Armstrong, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye; Barry

Chelsea: Sanchez; Acheampong, Sarr, Fofana, Cucurella; Caicedo, Santos; Palmer, Fernandez, Garnacho; Pedro

Chelsea, who have now lost three in a row in all competitions, desperately need a win like the one they managed at Villa Park a few weeks ago to get their top-four challenge back on track before rivals pull too far away.

Their notably low tally of clean sheets under Rosenior (one in 14 league matches) suggests they may struggle to keep the Toffees out, so scoring against Everton - who beat Burnley in their last home game but have generally struggled when hosting the so-called bigger clubs this term - is a must.

The Toffees will be thinking similarly, particularly with backline absences for both sides, so we’re expecting a high-scoring evening that the visitors may just edge thanks to the comparatively superior quality of their attack.

Correct score prediction: Everton 3-2 Chelsea