Chelsea team have won their last four league games on the trot which has
pushed the Blues one point off top spot after switching to a 3-4-3
formation. They have not conceded a goal in the process, with convincing
home wins over Leicester City and Man United and a couple of
away successes at Hull City and Southampton.
Antonio Conte
looks set to name an unchanged starting XI once again. The only dilemma
he looks to have is whether to recall Willian in place of Pedro on the
right of the front three. Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso are expected
to operate as wing-backs in the 3-4-3 formation. Marco van Ginkel and
Kurt Zouma have stepped up their return to first team action after
featuring for the U23s, but they aren't expected to recover in time for
the weekend. Fabregas, Juan Cuadrato and Baba Rahman are out
through injury.
Everton team sit in sixth place in the standings after winning five games,
drawing three and losing two so far. They bounced back from the defeat
at Burnley and ended their 4 league games winless run with a 2-0 triumph
over West ham last weekend. The Toffees have not been great on their
travels so far, despite collecting seven points and holding Man
City to a draw. Furthermore, they have failed to record a win in their
last 22 away matches against Chelsea in all competitions.
Ronald
Koeman will be without the suspended Idrissa Gueye while Maarten
Stekelenburg missed their 2-0 win over West Ham United through injury and it
remains to be seen if he will recover in time. Tom Cleverley looks the
obvious replacement for Gueye in central midfield alongside Gareth
Barry, which means that Yannick Bolasie, Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas
should again form the attacking midfield trio in the 4-2-3-1 formation
behind the lone striker Romelu Lukaku. Phil Jagielka and Ramiro Funes
Mori are in contention for a starting berth in defense. Muhamed Besic is
a long-term absentee, while James McCarthy and Arouna Kone are unlikely
to feature.
Chelsea last 5 matches:
01/10/16 Hull City 0 – 2 Chelsea
15/10/16 Chelsea 3 – 0 Leicester City
23/10/16 Chelsea 4 – 0 Manchester United
26/10/16 West Ham 2 – 1 Chelsea
30/10/16 Southampton 0 – 2 Chelsea
Everton last 5 matches:
24/09/16 Bournemouth 1 – 0 Everton
30/09/16 Everton 1 – 1 Crystal Palace
15/10/16 Manchester City 1 – 1 Everton
22/10/16 Burnley 2 – 1 Everton
30/10/16 Everton 2 – 0 West Ham