Chelsea vs Everton LIVE: Team information and updates as Blues look to earn very important three factors in race for Champions League
Chelsea host Everton in the weekend’s early kick-off in the Premier League today, with Enzo Maresca’s side in desperate need of three points as they hunt Champions League qualification.
The Blues sit in sixth coming into the weekend, two points behind Newcastle, who are currently occupying the last Champions League spot with five matches to go.
And Chelsea have perhaps the most difficult remaining fixtures out of the five sides aiming for the last three places in the top five, so it could be vital to pick up three points here ahead of matches against Liverpool, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.
Everton have little to play for after David Moyes steered them clear of relegation since taking over in January, though they’ll aim to spoil the party at Stamford Bridge as they look to end the season on a high.
Follow all the latest team news, build-up and updates from Stamford Bridge below:
Everton line-up to face Chelsea
Everton XI: Pickford; Patterson, O’Brien, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner, Doucoure; Harrison, Beto, Ndiaye
Chelsea line-up to face Everton
Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
American billionaire joins Everton’s ownership group with hope of new investment
The American billionaire Christopher Sarofim has joined Everton’s ownership group as they look to bring in more investors.
Sarofim, chairman of the global investment manager Fayez Sarofim & Co, will be Board Observer at Everton after becoming part of Roundhouse Capital Holdings Limited.
Moyes on avoiding relegation with Everton
“When I came in I was really worried,” David Moyes revealed about Everton possibly getting relegated this season.
He added: “This could go to the last game, I was saying to the players. We shouldn’t be celebrating survival.
“They have done remarkably well in the games. They have done a brilliant job.
“The games that we have had have been tough, but we expected them to be tough.”
Who will replace Tarkowski?
David Moyes will choose who to replace James Tarkowski with in the centre of Everton’s defence with the likely options being either Jake O’Brien or Michael Keane.
“Jake is a centre-half so I’m not worried about doing it, that’s for sure. It’s just trying to get the right balance for the team,” said Moyes.
“He’s done a brilliant job at full-back so it ‘s just weighing up whether we want to make one or two changes in position.
“We’ve got Michael Keane so we have options and we’ll look to play those options to see what works best.”
Tarkowski missing for Everton
David Moyes confirmed that James Tarkowski will miss today’s match against Chelsea through injury.
The manager revealed: “Tarky’s out, he’s going to be out for the rest of the season. He’ll have an operation on his hamstring.
“It’s a big blow for us because Tarky has played such a huge part of what we’ve done and how we’ve done so well in this period.
“I think he’ll be back [for pre-season] but it could eat into that.”
Enzo Maresca insists Chelsea’s season is an improvement and ‘not a failure’
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said his first season in charge has not been a failure and suggested critics have chosen not to acknowledge the progress made by his team.
Sunday’s dramatic 2-1 win against Fulham gave a timely boost in the race to qualify for the Champions League but supporters were made to sweat at Craven Cottage, their side trailing 1-0 for much of the west London derby before Tyrique George and Pedro Neto’s late goals snatched victory.
Lavia fit to feature versus Everton
Romeo Lavia is fit to feature against Everton today after making the bench for Chelsea’s match against Fulham last time out.
Enzo Maresca added: “Romeo is doing well – he was on the bench against Fulham.
“Also, he was on the bench in other games recently. He’s back, he’s training with us.
“With Romeo, we will try the same things that we are doing with Reece James. It is important that we use them carefully, going step by step and taking things slowly.
“Reece is doing well, he is playing two games every few days now and is holding up well across games in the Conference League and the Premier League. We will try to do the same with Romeo.”
Maresca provides injury updates
Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca, gave an update on the injuries within his squad .
“Malo [Gusto] is injured but it does not look like an important injury,” said the head coach.
“He is running and doing things outside, but he won’t be available for tomorrow’s game.
“Outside of that, Marc Guiu is still out, Aaron Anselmino is still out but the rest are still fit. Hopefully Marc can be back in one or two weeks.”
‘Palmer is a little bit worried’
Cole Palmer is ‘a little bit worried’ about his downturn in form claims Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca but that is because the prolific attacker wants to help the team perform.
“For sure it’s a mental thing, it’s not tactical or technical,” said Maresca.
“Cole is still the player who scored 14 goals in 20 games. The style is the same, the manager is the same, the club is the same. Nothing has changed around Cole. It’s just mentally in this moment.
“You can see he’s a little bit worried because he wants to help the team. You can see he’s struggling a bit on that. But he showed how happy he was after Fulham. It’s just a matter (whether) we can win games. For sure he’s going to score goals.
“If you go back game by game, he had at least every game one or two chances, so it’s not about how the team is playing.”
