Blues out to maintain winning run against bogey team Everton

[Myself 793]

THE MATCH

Chelsea will face the first test of their title challenge when they travel to Goodison Park to battle Everton on Saturday. The match is the late kick-off on the day and set to begin at 5.30pm UK time.

The hosts haven't had the preferred start after drawing two of their opening matches - against Leicester City and Arsenal. The Toffees contrived to throw away leads on both occasions and are now playing catchup in their quest to finish in the Top 4 come next May.

But they will be confident in gaining their first win of the season having beaten their illustrious opponents in four of the last six home meetings - including inflicting Jose Mourinho's first defeat in his second stint of Blues boss last term.

The match could also see Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto'o take on their former club and with a point to prove having reportedly fallen out with the Portuguese maestro at different point in their time in West London.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have made an ideal start to the campaign with back-to-back impressive wins over new boys Burnley and Leicester City. Following an average season last time, the Blues had moved swiftly in the summer transfer market to address the holes in their squad by signing Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa.

And both of those signings have been instrumental in the two victories. The former Barcelona man have garnered three assists - including the superb pass for Andre Schurrle in the opening day win - and played a part in four of the five goals scored.

While in Costa, the club may have finally found their ideal frontman following years of frustration with underwhelming strikers. The Spaniard has netted two goals in as many games from just five shots at goal.

As one of the only four sides left still with a 100% record, Jose Mourinho's men will be determined to head into the upcoming international break sitting at the top and looking down at their rivals.

TEAM NEWS

Everton

Everton will assess the fitness of Eto'o and Lukaku ahead of the Saturday's game. The Cameroonian has been short of match fitness having just joined the club while Lukaku picked up a toe injury in last weekend's draw with Arsenal.

Darron Gibson is pushing for a return to the matchday squad following a 10-month injury layoff. Steven Pienaar (groin), Roos Barkley (knee), Bryan Oviedo (leg) and Arouna Kone (knee) will miss the game with respective injury problems.

Predicted Lineup: Howard - Baines, Distin, Jagielka, Coleman - Barry, McCarthy - Pienaar, Naismith, Mirallas - Lukaku

Chelsea

Costa has been passed fit to feature at Goodison Park following a late assessment on Friday afternoon. The Blues have no other injury concerns otherwise.

Predicted Lineup: Courtois - Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic - Fabregas, Matic - Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle - Costa

STATS AND FACTS

- Head to head: Chelsea 62 wins; Everton 49 wins, 51 draws

- Since the 2009/10 season, Chelsea have lost four times to Everton. Only Manchester City have beaten them more in that period - 5.

- Chelsea have conceded just 9 goals in 2014, fewer than any other Premier League side.

- Chelsea have not lost their third game of the season since 1995 - lost 2-0 to Middlesbrough.

- Cesc Fabregas has assisted at least 1 goal in his last 4 Premier League appearances (five assists overall) - a personal record for the Spaniard.

- Eden Hazard has embarked on more dribbles than any other Premier League player this season - 22; eight more than any other player.

- Steven Naismith has scored 2 goals in his last 3 league appearances against Chelsea.

- Everton have conceded at least 2 goals in 5 of their last 7 Premier League matches.

MATCH ODDS (from Oddschecker)

Everton: 12/5

Draw: 5/2

Chelsea: 11/10

COVERAGE

Depending on where you are from, you can watch the match in the following channels:

United Kingdom: Sky Sports 1/HD

United States: NBC, NBC Sports Live Extra

Middle East: beIN Sports

Belgium: Sporting 1

Brazil: FOX Sports 1 Brasil

India: Star Sports 2 Asia, Star Sports HD 2 Asia

For additional regions, you can check out the TV schedule for the match here.

There should be many match streams that can be found online if your local sports channels are not broadcasting the game or if you happen to be busy and cannot catch the game live, follow TalkChelsea on Twitter as it would provide live match commentary on the action.

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[Jase 43,479]

*bump*

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I really hate late Saturday kick offs. We never seem to do too well in them for some reason.

[Myself 793]

yeahhhhhh

[Myself 793]

GUYS DON'T LET MY FIRST ARTICLE DIEEEEEE

i will strip for you if you comment on this thread

[Fulham Broadway 16,386]

GUYS DON'T LET MY FIRST ARTICLE DIEEEEEE

i will strip for you if you comment on this thread

Very nice article, if I say so myself.

[Myself 793]

Very nice article, if I say so myself.

I know you just want me to strip for you

[Fulham Broadway 16,386]

I know you just want me to strip for you

No, seriously its quality journalism, you dont have to demean yourself by stripping ....

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Oh, go on then, if you must :blue scalf: