Evertonvs.Chelsea

The reintroduction of Lavia after a brief absence would see a few players shifted around, including Moises Caicedo, who may be pushed into a more unorthodox right-back role again.

With Reece James also out injured, Malo Gusto is the only available option at full-back, but his versatility will come in useful should he start on the left of Chelsea's back four.

Renato Veiga was initially believed to be the man who might have replaced Cucurella, but he started in the 5-1 win over Shamrock Rovers on Thursday, essentially ruling him out of contention from starting here.

There are also injury problems in the centre of defence, with Benoit Badiashile joining Wesley Fofana on the sidelines last week shortly before the clash with Brentford.

Less than two days after making the 7,000km round trip to Kazakhstan in Europe, Tosin Adarabioyo stepped in to deputise and was impressive alongside Levi Colwill in the 2-1 win, and after not featuring in midweek, the summer signing looks set to start again.

Pedro Neto was another of the players who made the trek out to Almaty due to being suspended in the league last week, but he is set to retake his place in the team after Noni Madueke started against Shamrock.

On the opposite flank, Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix will compete for a starting berth with Mykhaylo Mudryk now out of the picture after he was found guilty of taking a banned substance last week, with a lengthy suspension in the pipeline.

All eyes will be on Chelsea's deadly duo Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson though, as those two have been the driving force behind their excellent start.

In December, no PL player has scored more goals (four), had more shots on target (11), or created as many chances (12) than Palmer, and he now faces the opponents who he scored four against in a 6-0 drubbing at Stamford Bridge late last season.

Jackson was also on target in that thrashing back in April, and he found the net again against Brentford last Sunday, taking him to nine Premier League goals for the season.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Sanchez; Caicedo, Tosin, Colwill, Gusto; Lavia, Enzo; Pedro Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson

Written by

Andrew Delaney