Chelsea make the trip to Goodison Park to face Everton
having strengthened their grip of fourth position with a 2-1
victory over Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, with Wednesday night's 5-2 defeat to
Liverpool seeing the club drop into the relegation zone,
Everton have decided to part ways with Marco Silva ,
replacing the Portuguese with Duncan Ferguson on a
caretaker basis.

Everton

After losing nine of their opening 15 Premier League
fixtures of the season, Everton announced on Thursday
night that they had removed Silva from his position in the
dugout.
While the Toffees had their moments against neighbours
Liverpool earlier this week, the manner of the defeat
ultimately led to the majority of the club's hierarchy feeling
that a change was required if they are going to make
headway up the table.
There will be those who feel a degree of sympathy for
Silva, who watched his team suffer a last-gasp defeat to
Leicester City at the weekend and miss out on earning
what appeared to be a clear spot kick when 2-1 down to
Liverpool.
Nevertheless, despite putting together a talented squad at
Goodison Park, the 42-year-old makes his exit having lost
as many games as he has won, something which has
understandably been regarded as unacceptable given the
club's financial outlay over the past 18 months.
Club legend Ferguson must now find a way to unite and
motivate a squad which is lacking confidence at the back,
although the opportunity to take on a Chelsea side who
have also been shipping goals at the other end has
arguably come at the right time.
Fresh off the back of agreeing a new long-term contract,
Richarlison has netted in his last two appearances to take
his tally to five for the season, and Ferguson will be relying
on the Brazil international to build on his recent streak.
However, becoming more solid in defence and midfield
will be the Scot's top priority, with just one clean sheet
coming in 13 matches and nine goals being shipped in
their three most recent fixtures.
Should Everton achieve their goal of shutting out this
Chelsea attack, it may act as the catalyst that they have
been looking for as they look to avoid any sort of a
relegation battle.


Recent form: LDWLLL
Recent form (all competitions): WDWLLL


Chelsea


After witnessing his players under-perform against West
Ham United at the weekend, Frank Lampard may have
had concerns about the mentality of his young team
ahead of an important run of fixtures.
However, despite the narrow margin of victory, Chelsea
looked somewhere close to their best against Villa on
Wednesday night as they maintained their six-point
advantage over their rivals for a top-four spot.
Lampard was quick to allude to the Blues wasting
numerous opportunities to put the result beyond any doubt
heading into the closing stages, while the backline are still
conceding too many chances to the opposition.
Nevertheless, Chelsea have now recorded 21 points from
their last nine outings in the top flight, form which is on
par with what second-placed Leicester City have produced
all season.
Lampard's immediate task is to find a way of achieving a
result at a ground which has not always been kind to
Chelsea, ahead of attempting to claim the three points
which they require against Lille to qualify for the
Champions League knockout stages.
The return of Tammy Abraham ahead of the upcoming
double-header is a major plus for Lampard, with the
academy graduate having now contributed 11 goals and
three assists in the Premier League this season.
While Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud are quality
deputies to the England international, Chelsea look more
fluid with the youngster in the side, something which plays
into the favour of the creative players around him.
The involvement of Abraham led to Mason Mount ending
a two-month wait for a goal on Wednesday night, and the
playmaker will be hoping to build on his performance
against the Villans with Ross Barkley now closing in on a
return after a seven-week layoff.


Recent form: WWWLLW
Recent form (all competitions): DWLDLW

Team News

After being sidelined through an ankle injury and illness,
Barkley will hope to feature in the squad versus his former
side.
With Tuesday's Champions League fixture with Lille in
mind, Lampard may make several alterations, with
Emerson Palmieri , Jorginho and Callum Hudson-Odoi in
contention to be handed a recall.
Each of Reece James , Mateo Kovacic and Christian
Pulisic could drop down to the substitutes' bench after a
run of games in the starting lineup.
Providing that he has recovered from injury, Seamus
Coleman will replace Djibril Sidibe at right-back, with
Ferguson almost certainly switching to a back four.
In a bid to tighten things up in midfield, Morgan
Schneiderlin could come into the team, although Gylfi
Sigurdsson is expected to feature further forward rather
than be dropped to the bench.
With Bernard having impressed as a substitute against
Liverpool, Richarlison may be handed more freedom in a
role down the middle.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Coleman, Mina, Keane, Digne; Schneiderlin,
Davies; Iwobi, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Richarlison

Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Christensen, Palmieri;
Jorginho, Kante; Willian, Mount, Hudson-Odoi; Abraham

Head To Head
Saturday's fixture will represent the 184th competitive
meeting between the two clubs, with Chelsea registering
72 wins in comparison to 55 victories for Everton.
However, the Merseyside outfit are currently on a three-
match unbeaten streak against the Blues, with two
goalless draws being followed by a 2-0 success in March .
Chelsea last prevailed at Goodison Park in April 2017 as
Pedro, Gary Cahill and Willian all got on the scoresheet in
a 3-0 win.