Chelsea To Overcome Defensive Woes vs Everton

• Game: Chelsea F.C. vs Everton F.C.
• Location: Stamford Bridge, London, England, U.K.
• Date/Time: Thursday, 2:45 p.m. ET

Chelsea vs Everton Betting Preview

Head to Head

Chelsea shut out Everton at Stamford Bridge 2-0 last season behind a Ben Godfrey own goal and a Jorginho penalty. Gylffi Sigurdsson scored the game’s only goal on a penalty as Everton won the reverse fixture 1-0.

Everton have won three of the last five meetings but all of those wins have come at Goodison Park. The away team has won none of the last nine matches in this fixture. In fact, Everton last beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 1994.

Chelsea’s Defensive Concerns Growing

Chelsea smashed their club record transfer fee over the Summer to buy Romelu Lukaku but strangely none of their top three scorers are strikers.

Mason Mount, who scored the first of three goals in a thrilling 3-2 win over Leeds, leads the Blues with six Premier League goals. Jorginho, who scored the game-winning penalty in stoppage time vs Leeds, and right back Reece James are level on four goals.

Lukaku has missed some time with injury but hasn’t hit the ground running as expected. He has just three goals in 11 Premier League appearances. Chelsea will need a lot more out of him and Timo Werner to stay competitive in a tough three-team title race.

Most concerningly, Chelsea have conceded five goals in their last two games. That’s the same amount that they conceded in their first 13 Premier League contests…combined.

If you include their Champions League match vs Zenit, Chelsea have conceded eight goals in their last three. Even so, the defending Champions League winners advanced as the second place team in their group and got a little bit of luck by drawing Lille in the next round.

Thomas Tuchel is a world class coach and I expect him to tinker with the lineup to solve the defensive issues. Just two points back from first place Manchester City, Chelsea have still been one of the best soccer picks of the season.

Everton’s Momentum Short Lived

Rafa Benitez has struggled in his first season as Everton manager. The Toffees have won just one of their last 10 matches and fell 3-1 to Crystal Palace last weekend. Last season’s leading scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been out with a toe injury since August.

Without him, Everton have been hard pressed to generate goals. Especially as their most talented player, Richarlison, has also been in and out of the lineup.

The Brazilian international was substituted off in the 58th minute vs Crystal Palace with a supposed calf problem but looked bewildered as he came off. The move was defended by the under-fire Benitez as precautionary given a busy holiday fixture period.

Richarlison did come through to equalize the score vs Arsenal a couple of Mondays ago after he had two goals called back by VAR. Winger Demarai Gray then electrified the Goodison Park crowd with a belter of a goal to win the match at the death, 2-1.

Gray, who is currently Everton’s leading scorer has been the lone bright spot of the season. The win was also Everton’s first in over two months but the momentum was short-lived.

Everton have been a consistently poor pick for betting online this season. They’ve lost to three of the top four teams this season and unfortunately have to face the other on Thursday.

Chelsea vs Everton Final Prediction

Everton virtually never get a result at Stamford Bridge and I get the feeling this one could be ugly. Pressure is mounting on Benitez and this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Chelsea have been a bit leaky defensively but Everton don’t play the same bombarding style that West Ham and Leeds do. Bet on Chelsea to dominate and cover the 1½-goal spread in the sportsbook.

Pick: Chelsea 1½ (-125)