CHELSEA host Everton on Super Sunday in the Premier League. Jack Lambden (@_JackL_) analyses the encounter.
Chelsea v Everton | Sunday 8th March 2020, 14:00 | Sky Sports
The games are coming thick and fast for Chelsea in their pursuit of a top four finish in the Premier League and, after Wednesday’s win over Liverpool, a potential FA Cup success to boot.
Sunday’s hosting of Everton will be the 41st match of Chelsea’s season but in the knowledge that they are all but out of the Champions League following the first leg thumping by Bayern Munich, The Blues can go all out here for a win.
Frank Lampard will have learned a lot from an up-and-down first season in his dream job but above all else, he’ll know that his young troops are capable of going up another gear or two if quality is brought in around them in this summer’s transfer window.
At times, Chelsea have been brilliant to watch and a breath of fresh air compared to the laboured, one-dimensional team we saw under Maurizio Sarri but they have also been defensively suspect for much of the campaign which has halted their progress at times.
There’s not been many dull games involving Chelsea this season though and the stats certainly back that up. Games involving the Blues in the top tier have seen 3.07 goals per game on average with only Manchester City and Aston Villa matches containing more.
To add to that, Chelsea and opponents Everton have seen both teams score in 61% and 64% of their respective league contests and with both sides preferring attack to defence, I like the look of Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals at Evens with Bet365.
A man that is starring at the moment is left-back Marcos Alonso. Three goals in his last two Premier League games had in fact left Lampard rather frustrated as it highlighted the lack of proficiency of some of his forward players. The manager said with a wry smile that the Spaniard might be in contention to become Chelsea’s top scorer but it is just reward for how often the defender is breaking into the box and getting efforts on goal away.
With at least two shots in each of his last four games since his return to the side in early February, including a whopping 7 last week at Bournemouth, the 5/4 on him to register at least two in this game is a bet I will be getting on side, placed with SkyBet.
Chelsea have switched in recent weeks to playing a 3-4-2-1 formation with Alonso as one of the two wing-backs and should they line-up that way on Sunday, it could just benefit Alonso and Chelsea again from an attacking point of view.
The reverse fixture was probably the highlight of Everton’s season as the then Duncan Ferguson led side romped to a deserved 3-1 victory. The Toffees will need to match the intensity of that day to get a result at Stamford Bridge but their record at the traditional top six clubs is awful to say the least – without a win in 38 away games.
The team under Carlo Ancelotti are playing with a lot more belief in recent matches and even if they come away without a result, I think the likes of Richarlison and the man rewarded with a new contract this week – Dominic Calvert-Lewin – can cause the home team some trouble.
Everton have been getting shots away on a lot more regular basis under their Italian coach and scoring more frequently too, showing a much more clinical edge. They’ve beaten the 4+ shot on target line in each of their last four matches so I was pleased to see 11/10 available with SkyBet on the Merseysiders to repeat that feat.
Had it not been for VAR’s intervention against Manchester United, then Everton would be heading into this match on the back of a big win but they still have a chance of stealing a European place which seemed so far off in the early part of the season.
Best Bets
Chelsea v Everton – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals (Evens Bet365)
Chelsea v Everton – Marcos Alonso 2+ Shots (5/4 SkyBet)
Chelsea v Everton – Everton 4+ Shots on Target (11/10 SkyBet)
