By Ian S Palmer
Reigning English Premier League champions Chelsea will be trying to get their season back on track when they pay a visit to Merseyside on Saturday, September 12 to take on Everton at Goodison Park. Chelsea enters the game way down in 13th place after four games of the 2015/16 campaign while Everton is in ninth. Chelsea has a win, a draw and two losses for four points with six goals scored and nine allowed. Everton has one victory, a pair of draws and a defeat for five points and has scored five goals while conceding four.
Everton vs Chelsea – Soccer Betting Preview
BETTING LINE:
- bet365 lists Chelsea as the favorites at 21/20 with Everton 3/1 and a draw at 5/2
HEAD TO HEAD:
- Chelsea came out 6-3 winners at Everton last season thanks to a hat trick by Spanish international striker Diego Costa and won 1-0 at home. Chelsea has won three in a row and five of their last six meetings. Everton’s last victory came back in September of 2013 and there has been four red cards handed out in their last 10 encounters. The two sides have met 160 times in the past with Chelsea winning 61, losing 50 and drawing the other 49.
Everton’s only win this season came against Southampton down south at St Mary’s and they’ve drawn against Tottenham Hotspur and Watford. Their lone loss was 3-0 to league-leading Manchester City. With the summer transfer window now closed, British defender John Stones will remain with Everton after Chelsea submitted several bids for him. The player also put in a transfer request, but the Toffees rejected it. There were a few additions though as English winger Aaron Lennon joined on transfer deadline day from Tottenham. He spent the second half of the 2014/15 campaign at Goodison Park and now he’s back on a permanent deal. Other newcomers are Leandro Rodriguez and Ramiro Funes Mori.
Everton needs to put some points up on the board as soon as possible as they have matches against Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool next month. The team has a couple of clean sheets this season, but is having trouble scoring goals as they’ve been shutout in their past two contests. In all competitions, the Toffees have two wins, two draws and two losses in their last half dozen outings. However, it’s better than Chelsea’s form as the Blues have a win, a draw and four defeats in their past six games.
Chelsea’s only league win was a 3-2 triumph against West Bromwich Albion. Manager Jose Mourinho acquired a couple of players at the transfer deadline in defender Papy Djilobodji from French Ligue 1 side Nantes and Michael Hector of lower division Reading. However, Hector will remain at Reading on loan for the season. Chelsea has allowed the second-most goals against this season and may regret letting goaltender Petr Cech leave for Arsenal. Number one keeper Thibaut Courtois has also missed a couple of games due to a red card early in the campaign.
Everton may be without midfielder Bryan Oviedo for the game due to injury and American international goalkeeper Tim Howard will be a game time decision. In addition, English international Tom Cleverley is expected to be sidelined for about six weeks with ankle ligament damage and his international teammate Leighton Baines will also be missing from the defence after undergoing ankle surgery. For Chelsea, Courtois will be a game time decision and Asmir Begovic may guard the net. On the bright side, Brazilian international midfielder Oscar should be back and English international defender and team captain John Terry returns from suspension.