Everton face off with Chelsea this week as the home side continues their search for the new season after sacking Marco Silva in the later parts of Thursday following a 5-2 thrashing in the Merseyside Derby on Wednesday.
The Portuguese leaves Goodison Park following a string of poor results which sees them reeling in the 18th spot and a point away from safety. Chelsea on the other side had a rather rare blimp against West Ham last Saturday but managed to return to winning ways as they beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday to keep their 4th place in the table, 3 behind Manchester City and 6 behind Leicester City.
Frank Lampard remains hopeful that his young side has huge potential to finish among the top 4 places in the league and also for a run through in the Champions League. Their transfer ban got uplifted this week as the Court of Arbitration of Sport (C.A.S.) halved the ban imposed on them and also reduced the the financial fine on the Blues.
The return of Tammy Abraham is also a very positive sign for the Blues and the England international was among the goals right away on Wednesday and also managed to create another.
The fixture ended as a 2-0 win for the Toffees last season as Glyfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison both helped Everton up to the 11th spot.
PREDICTED LINEUPS:
Everton have appointed Duncan Fletcher as interim coach as they search for a replacement for the outgoing Marco Silva who held term for 18 moths.
The incoming coach is expected to start on the safer side with a 5-4-1 formation with GK Jordan Pickford continuing in goal for the Toffees.
Mason Holgate, Michael Keane, Yerry Mina all are expected to start in the central part of defence while Djibril Sidibe and Lucas Digne are set to start in the full back roles.
Richarlison has also not been able to replicate Hus form of the last seasons in the Dark Blue shirt for Everton but could come out big against the Londoners.
Alex Iwobi is another threatening player who is expected to start on the left flank. Dominic Calvert Lewin continues in the lone striker role.
Predicted Lineups:
Pickford, Sidibe, Holgate, Keane, Digne, Iwobi, Davies, Schneiderlin, Richarlison,Calvert Lewin 5-4-1
Chelsea are on a good run of form recently apart from the unexpected defeat at home to West Ham.
Tammy Abraham returned to the lineup on Wednesday night and is expected to keep his place ahead of Frenchman Olivier Giroud and Belgian Michy Batshuayi.
Mason Mount, who scored off a quite amazing finish last time out, also has been on a purple patch recently. The England international is set to start in the CAM role.
Christian Pulisic is set to continue in the Left midfielder position and Brazilian Willian would operate on the right.
Fit again N’golo Kante continues in the middle of the park to provide cover for the not so strong Chelsea defence.
Predicted Lineups:
Kepa, Azpilicueta, Tomori, Zouma, Emerson, Kante, Jorginho, Mount, Pulisic, Willian, Abraham 4-2-3-1
Referee: Craig Pawson
Venue: Goodison Park, Liverpool (39572)
English Premier League, Round 16
Time: 12:30 GMT, Saturday
