Chelsea will aim to keep up their so far perfect Premier League record when they travel to Goodison Park for a tough away day this Saturday.
Date: Saturday, 30th August  Kick-off: 17:30 GMT  Venue: Goodison Park  On TV: Sky Sports
Chelsea will be looking for their third win in three Premier League games as they face their toughest test yet away to Roberto Martinez’s Everton.
Chelsea have beaten Burnley and Leicester so far, while Everton have two draws to their name, away to Leicester and at home to Arsenal last weekend.
While Everton lost a two goal lead to Arsenal last time out, Chelsea overcame a resilient Leicester side at home to eventually win 2-0.
Despite their difference in fortunes so far, we have certainly seen what both these sides are capable of in a season where both managers will be looking to one better than last.
With Everton aiming for the Champions League, Chelsea are looking to win their fourth Premier League title and their third under Mourinho, and are odds on to do so.
Both have experienced successful summers, but in different ways. While Chelsea have added to their ranks with signings such as Fabregas and Costa, Everton have managed to keep players such as Ross Barkley away from big money offers from other clubs.
They have, of course, also taken one of Chelsea’s brightest talents in Romelu Lukaku on a permanent deal after the Belgian spent last season on loan at Goodison.
In addition, Everton have also snapped up former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o, who made his Chelsea debut against Everton, after he was released by Mourinho and the board at Chelsea.
In this fixture last season, Chelsea experienced their first taste of defeat of the campaign as they lost to a single Steven Naismith headed goal.
That day, in what became a pattern for the remainder of the season, Chelsea failed to take the chances that came their way.
However, Chelsea will look to take advantage of an Everton defence that currently looks leaky, having conceded four goals in two games, all of which came while Everton were winning the game.
It does, though, look like Chelsea will be without their prize frontman in Diego Costa, who hasn’t trained for the last two days and looks unlikely to start the game after injuring his hamstring.
Costa has scored 2 goals in his first two Premier League games, as well as four in pre-season, and will be a big miss to the Chelsea team.
This may see Didier Drogba make his first start since returning to Chelsea with Fernando Torres seemingly leaving the club before the window shuts. Andre Schurrle would be another option up top.
However, Mourinho did refuse to completely rule Costa out of Saturday evening’s game while speaking in his pre-match press conference today (Friday).
Aside from Costa’s potential injury, Chelsea will have a full roster of players to select from. Cesc Fabregas will surely start yet again.
The defence is unlikely to change for the third game in a row. This is unless Mourinho decides that Filipe Luis is ready for his Chelsea debut at left back.
Courtois looks set to keep his place in goal, particularly after keeping Chelsea level last weekend against Leicester with a hero’s save to keep out striker David Nugent.
Whether or not Fernando Torres is included in the squad, particularly if Costa is injured, will be a good indication to whether or not he will be at the club come September the 2nd.
Everton are without Steven Pienaar, Ross Barkley, Bryan Oviedo and Arouna Kone through injury. Samuel Eto’o will be available to make his debut against hid former club.Â
Last season, this may have been a game that Chelsea would have feared and perhaps have been happy with a point, but I think we can expect to see both team going for the win tomorrow evening.
If, and only if, Chelsea are at their best and take their chances, they will walk away from Goodison with another three points in the bag.
Everton v Chelsea - Pre match facts:
- Cesc Fabregas has assisted at least one goal in his last four Premier League appearances (five assists overall).
- Didier Drogba has scored 7 goals in 11 Premier League appearances against Everton
- Everton have won four of their last five Barclays Premier League home games against Chelsea
- Chelsea have conceded just nine goals in 2014, fewer than any other ever-present PL side
- Chelsea have 62 wins in 162 matches vs Everton, 49 losses and 51 draws
Source: Opta/ChelseaMad
Everton v Chelsea – Predicted lineup:
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle; Costa (passed fit)
Prediction:Â Everton 1-2 Chelsea
