Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The final game of Saturday’s Premier League actions sees Chelsea take on Everton and with 4th place taking on 6th this has all the making of a very interesting clash. Add in the usual sub plot of Romelu Lukaku wanting to score against his former employers and this shouldn’t be a match up that disappoints.
Chelsea certainly haven’t been disappointing as of late as they have recorded four straight wins to move up to 4th place in the Premier League table. If results go their way, namely Manchester City not winning at home to Middlesbrough then a win for the West London side would see them go top for at least 24 hours.
Even if City fail to win then beating Everton is by no means a foregone conclusion as Ronald Koeman brings his side to Stamford Bridge just 4 points behind Chelsea and two places further back in the Premier League table. After a run of four matches without a win they returned to winning ways last week at home to West Ham.
If it wasn’t for that stuttering run of form in October then their league placing could be even higher right now but that’s not to take anything away from Ronald Koeman who has transformed what was a misfiring outfit last season in the final days of Roberto Martinez’ reign.
Romelu Lukaku was on hand to score his third league goal in four matches and he would love nothing more than to add to that tally this evening. The Belgian international was believed to be chased by Chelsea for his signature over the Summer and although no concrete bid came about you would imagine that their interest will still be keen in bringing Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge.
Everton have been a tough nut to crack but that’s not to say they are impenetrable. Recent defeats to Burnley and Bournemouth have showed that The Toffees can still have their off days and it’s those off days that manager Koeman is going to have remove if they are to have any chance of European qualification this season.
There hasn’t been any off days as of late for Chelsea as since the turn of last month they have brushed past all before them. 4 wins in a row and 11 goals in the process, the key to these run of victories has been moving to three at the back but importantly it hasn’t sacrificed anything going forward.
If anything it has unlocked the talents of Eden Hazard as he returns to the kind of form which helped Chelsea lift the league title two seasons ago. He was on hand to score early on last Sunday to but his side ahead before Diego Costa added his eighth of the campaign to wrap up all three points away at Southampton.
This evening will see the league’s top two goalscorers go head to head as Costa (8) faces off against Lukaku (7) with 15 league goals between them then the hope is that the game will bring goals. These encounters usually do and they usually bring fireworks also.
When these two sides met in the F.A. Cup last season at Goodison Park, Lukaku scored a fantastic solo goal to steer Everton to victory while Costa was shown the red card after getting in a scuffle with the Belgian. Will the fireworks be reignited later on tonight?
Obviously you hope that the game stays 11 v 11 and Costa keeeps his cool no matter how much he plays up to be the pantomine villain. Chelsea will no doubt have more chance of winning if he manages to stay on the pitch for the duration of the game.
Can Chelsea make it five wins from five later on? Although it will be a tight encounter and arguably their tightest game that they have played as of late, I think they will just have enough to edge this game. Last season saw a 3-3 encounter at Stamford Bridge, I don’t think we’ll get spoiled with 6 goals but I do think both teams will score. That said I think Chelsea will just edge it. A home win for me.
