Chelsea vs Everton predictions: Sluggish Toffees could struggle in early exchanges
- Eight of Chelsea's last nine league games produced over 3.5 goals
- Everton have scored only 12 first-half goals in 31 top-flight games this season
- Recommended bet: Chelsea to win 1st Half at 6/5 with LiveScore Bet
Everton snapped their 13-game winless streak in the Premier League with a vital 1-0 victory over survival rivals Burnley at Goodison Park last time out.
However, the Toffees remain precariously close to the relegation zone and they will be hoping to boost their points tally when they travel to Chelsea on Monday night.
The Blues' last home fixture produced an extraordinary 4-3 win over Manchester United but they went on to draw 2-2 at bottom club Sheffield United and lost 2-0 in December's reverse fixture at Goodison.
Team news
Chelsea are assessing the fitness of Axel Disasi, Enzo Fernandez, Raheem Sterling and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez but Ben Chilwell should return to the squad.
If Fernandez is ruled out then Conor Gallagher may drop into a defensive-midfield role with Mykhailo Mudryk coming into the starting XI.
Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku, Levi Colwill and Lesley Ugochukwu remain sidelined.
Everton hope to welcome back Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye as well as winger Arnaut Danjuma, who has been out since the end of January. Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is expected to start despite a minor hamstring problem.
The stats
Three of Chelsea's last five Premier League matches have ended 2-2 and eight of the Blues' last nine league games have produced at least four goals.
Goals would once again seem likely against Everton but both teams have scored in only four of Chelsea's last 17 meetings with the Toffees.
Everton have won only one of their last 14 league matches and they have scored just 12 first-half goals in 31 top-flight games this term.
However, seven of the Toffees' nine league victories in 2023-24 have been accompanied by a clean sheet.
Prediction
Everton remain in relegation trouble despite conceding only 42 goals in 31 Premier League matches this season – fewer than any team apart from title contenders Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
That statistic suggests there may be a clash of styles at Stamford Bridge as eight of Chelsea's last nine games have featured four or more goals.
They have let slip leads to draw 2-2 with lowly Burnley and Sheffield United in recent matches so they are hard to trust in the match-betting market, particularly as their injury crisis shows no sign of easing.
However, Mauricio Pochettino's men should be backed to be leading at half-time against an Everton side who have scored one first-half goal in their last eight league matches – a 47th-minute strike from Dominic Calvert-Lewin against Burnley earlier this month.
Chelsea, in contrast, have opened the scoring in each of their last six games, with goals in the 42nd, 35th, sixth, 44th, fourth and 11th minutes, and they were 2-0 up inside 19 minutes in their last home fixture against Manchester United.
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