Its been a few months but Chelsea are back playing Premier League football on Saturday night as they travel to Goodison Park to play Everton for MW 1. My season preview will come once the transfer window closes so until then we will focus on the games itself. Everton have not had a busy summer but they have lost Richarlison to Tottenham. Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil have come in who are quality additions but Lampard’s side does look undercooked at the moment. We travelled to Goodison late last season and lost 1-0 and I expect the home crowd to be the 12th man once again.
Chelsea have had a mixed pre-season. We beat Club America and then lost on penalties to Charlotte. We then got thrashed by Arsenal 4-0 and beat Udinese in Italy last week over two games. Until Arsenal we had signed Sterling and Koulibaly but the loss seemed to rev up the engines of Todd Boehly and the club as a whole. Over the last week we have signed Carney Chukwuemeka a highly rated 18 year old central midfielder who has come straight into the first team. Azpilicueta has extended his contract for two more years which is great for stability. Finally Marc Cucurella looks set to be announced on Friday as a new signing and is a quality addition. Meanwhile we are chasing Fofana and are interested in De Jong so plenty of things to be excited about at the club.
Gary Neville in the Overlap said he felt Todd Boehly was trying to play Football Manager and that he was panicking. Tuchel was asked about this and he said this was far from the case it was more like they were working their socks off and learning on the job. It is what any new owner does and the fact that they are managing to attract these players is a testament to their business know how. Tuchel said that the Arsenal loss served as a wake up call and that the club needed to look at City and Liverpool but also take into account Spurs, Arsenal and Manchester United along with any surprise team. In the Premier League anything can happen. Finally he said that Everton was a tough game last season and that losing it serves as enough motivation for tomorrow’s game.
Chelsea Team Preview
It does seem like everyone is fit for the game. Cucurella could be announced in time to get registered but I highly doubt he would start the game. Mendy should be in goal with a back three of Azpilicueta, Silva, and Koulibaly. James and Alonso should play as the wing-backs because it felt like Tuchel’s plan was to ease Ben Chilwell back into the starting XI. Kovacic and Jorginho should start in midfield with a front three of Sterling, Kai, and Mount. Players like Gallagher, Broja, Ziyech, Kante, Chalobah, etc should all be available on the bench. If all goes to plan then maybe Cucurella could get some minutes off the bench. It’s a competitive XI and the attack did show signs of chemistry against Udinese. Koulibaly looks like a monster at the back and it will be joy to watch him. This could be Alonso’s final outing as a Chelsea player so hopefully he can score a goal and help the team win.
Everton Team Preview
Everton will be without Calvert-Lewin who got injured in training. That is a blow for Lampard especially because Richarlison is also no longer at the club. Lampard has gone with a three at the back formation during pre-season. Pickford should start in goal with a back three of Keane, Tarkowski, and Godfrey. Patterson and Mykolenko serve as his wing-backs with Doucouré and Iwobi as the midfield two. Gordon should start as one of the wingers while McNeil could also start as well. Up front Lampard could go with a false nine like Gray or start Rondon. Iwobi’s position is also up for grabs given that Allan, and Davies are also available. Interesting to see what Lampard does but it is a decent XI and the team have done well in recent results. Gordon is a threat and McNeil is quite good. The defence is quite strong. I expect Lampard to rely on counter-attacking with pace but also pressing Chelsea win given an opportunity.
Starting XI Prediction
The first game of the season, Goodison Park is always a tough test for Chelsea but the beginning of the season can see some results that buck the trend. As I finish writing this Cucurella has been announced by Chelsea and has made the cut for the squad so we might see him off the bench. Can’t wait for Saturday, this season is going to be mad COME ON CHELSEA!!!