Chelsea maintained their strong grip at the top of the Premier League standings with a gritty win Saturday on the road against Aston Villa. They will look to extend their unbeaten streak in the league to five games when they take on an Everton side that is coming off a goalless draw against rivals Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.
Read on for a complete preview of this Premier League showdown and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the upcoming clash between Liverpool and Tottenham here.
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Everton vs. Chelsea Betting Preview
Where: Stamford Bridge, London
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2:45 PM ET
Line: Everton +800 at Chelsea -425, tie +425; total: 2.5 – view all EPL lines
What’s At Stake
A victory by Chelsea on Wednesday can see them stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League table to a whopping 10 points. Everton, on the other hand, will still remain at 12th place even if they record a shock win at Stamford Bridge.
Betting on Everton
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Everton moved seven points clear of the relegation zone after sharing the points with Liverpool in a drab 0-0 affair Saturday at the 224th staging of the Merseyside Derby. It sure wasn’t pretty but Everton will gladly take the point as they prepare for what promises to be a tough relegation battle in the coming months ahead.
Given his side’s battling performance against Liverpool, however, manager Roberto Martinez will fancy his team’s chances of avoiding the drop this season. Even though Liverpool dominated majority of the possession (55%), Everton held firm at the back as they recorded their third successive clean sheet in the league.
Since losing 2-0 to Hull City on New Year’s Day, the Toffees have now gone four league games without defeat collecting a total of six points in those assignments. It’s quite an achievement for the Toffees considering two of those games came against big sides such as Liverpool and Manchester City.
They will face their toughest test, though, this coming Wednesday when they square off with the league-leaders Chelsea in a critical mid-week showdown. Stopping Chelsea’s stellar attack for the entire 90 minutes will be a tall task for Martinez’s men considering that the Blues have scored 25 goals at home this season, second-best in the entire league.
With that being said, expect Everton to pack the midfield once again as this formation has worked wonders for them the previous four outings. James McCarthy, Muhamed Besic and Gareth Barry will provide the muscle in central midfield to help congest the space and thwart the offensive options of Chelsea’s attacking midfielders.
This tactic has some downside, though, as evidenced by Everton’s lack of shot attempts in its match against Liverpool. They managed just six shot attempts against the Reds, with only one attempt going on target.
The onus then is on Romelu Lukaku to make the most of his scoring chances whenever the opportunity arises in the match against Chelsea. The Belgian striker has already scored seven goals in the Premier League this season, 16th in the entire EPL.
The Toffees are 1-4-0 in their last five games on the road.
Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the league table to seven points with a priceless 2-1 victory Saturday over Aston Villa at Villa Park. Branislav Ivanovic was the man of the match for the Blues as his second-half strike gave Chelsea the valuable three points and provided manager Jose Mourinho his first win on this ground in six attempts.
For a while, though, it looked like the Portuguese manager would leave Villa Park without a victory once again as Aston Villa displayed remarkable tenacity that was severely missing in their play in their previous league outings.
Although Villa went down quickly to an easy Eden Hazard goal in the eighth minute, Paul Lambert’s men continued to press forward and got their rewards at the start of the second half with a Jores Okore header that knotted the score at one goal apiece.
With Villa scoring their first Premier League goal in 11 hours, it looked like all the momentum was finally on Aston Villa’s side. That didn’t rattle Chelsea though and they showed their championship credentials in the 66th minute with a beautifully-worked second goal wherein Ivanovic struck a delicious half-volley coming from Cesar Azpilicueta’s deflected cross.
Ivanovic’s strike was Chelsea’s 29th away goal of the season, the best mark in the entire Premier League. That has enabled them to take 25 points out of their travels this season, tied for first in the EPL alongside title rivals Manchester City.
What makes Chelsea the favorite, however, to win this year’s domestic crown is their superb form at Stamford Bridge. They are the only unbeaten side at home this season, winning 10 times and drawing once in their 11 league games at the Bridge.
A slight concern for Jose Mourinho, however, is the news that both Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas might once again miss their upcoming mid-week match against Everton. Costa is still out because of a three-match ban while Fabregas is still nursing a hamstring injury he suffered against Liverpool.
Despite of that, Chelsea will fancy their chances of beating Everton because of the way they outclassed the Toffees in their first league meeting earlier this season. Chelsea thrashed Everton, 6-3, last August at Goodison Park with Costa, Ivanovic, Matic and Ramires entering the scoresheet.
The Blues are 4-0-1 in their last five games at home.
