Captain John Terry is expected to shrug off a thigh injury to continue in defence as Chelsea bid to maintain their two-point lead at the top of the table with victory at Everton. David Moyes’s side is the only team to have taken points off the Blues at home this season after the two sides shared an entertaining 3-3 draw in December. Midfielder Steven Pienaar will be missing for the home side as he serves a one-match ban while Chelsea leading scorer Didier Drogba will aim to add to his tally of 16 goals in his last 17 matches.
Quick Check
Everton
- Everton are the only team to take points off Chelsea at home this season when they drew 3-3 at Stamford Bridge.
- The Toffees’ defeat to Liverpool at the weekend was their first loss in ten Premier League matches.
- Nigerian duo Joseph Yobo and Yakubu are back in contention for a place in the starting line-up.
- Midfielder Steven Pienaar is unavailable as he serves a one-match ban.
- Marouane Fellaini is an injury doubt after hobbling off at Liverpool.
- Everton haven’t beaten Chelsea at Goodison Park since February 1994.
- Phil Jagielka remains sidelined by long-term knee problems.
Chelsea
- Captain John Terry is expected to shrug off a thigh injury to continue in defence.
- Leading scorer Didier Drogba has scored 16 goals in his last 17 games.
- Drogba scored twice when the two teams met in December.
- Chelsea haven’t lost to Everton in their last 24 encounters.
- The Blues are unbeaten in their last 13 matches and have won seven of their last eight.
- Brazilian Juliano Belletti is still struggling with a calf problem.
- Midfielder Michael Essien will be out for another week after knee surgery.
- Full back Jose Bosingwa is out until the end of the month with a knee injury.
- Chelsea have lost three games on the road this season.
Expert Advice
Chelsea found out exactly what Everton are all about at Stamford Bridge before Christmas as the Toffees came back from going behind three times to earn a point and another close encounter looks in prospect here. David Moyes’s team had their nine-match unbeaten run in the league ended by Liverpool at the weekend but they remain in good form and have more than enough weapons going forward to concern the Blues who had a hard-fought win over Arsenal on Sunday. Didier Drogba’s return to lead their attack has been a big plus for Carlo Ancelotti’s side this month but it will be fascinating to see how manager Carlo Ancelotti handles Everton after their last encounter. Chelsea have a fantastic record at Goodison Park but evidence suggests that this will be closer than previous encounters and Betsson’s odds of 1.95 for there to be over 2.5 goals looks a sound bet.
Bet it!
2. Link to the article in your blog post.
3. Go to twingly.com/ping and paste the URL to your blog post
Done! After a minute or so a link to your blog post will appear on Topleague.co.uk
