Chelsea travel to Everton on Saturday afternoon looking to hand Sam Allardyce his first defeat in charge of the Merseyside outfit.
The pair meet at Goodison Park in Saturday's early kick off in what will be both club's final outing before Christmas, though Antonio Conte's men have had just a three-day turnaround from their Carabao Cup game against Bournemouth.
Everton lost the reverse fixture 2-0 at Stamford Bridge but are rejuvenated under the guidance of Allardyce and will be confident of upsetting the odds.
| Game | Everton vs Chelsea |
| Date | Saturday, December 23 |
| Time | 12:30 GMT / 07:30 ET |
TV CHANNEL & LIVE STREAM
In the United Kingdom (UK), viewers can watch live on television on Sky Sports Premier League or Sky Sports Main Event as well as being able to stream live online using the SkyGo app.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event | SkyGo |
In the United States (US), the Premier League can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
SQUADS & TEAM NEWS
| Position | Everton players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Pickford, Stekelenburg, Robles |
| Defenders | Baines, Keane, Williams, Jagielka, Martina, Coleman, Funes Mori, Holgate, Kenny, Feeney |
| Midfielders | Schneiderlin, Barkley, McCarthy, Lennon, Gueye, Sigurdsson, Klaassen, Besic, Davies, Vlasic, Baningime |
| Forwards | Bolasie, Sandro, Rooney, Mirallas, Calvert-Lewin, Lookman, Niasse |
Allardyce is likely to stick with the XI which beat Swansea 3-1 on Monday evening, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin continuing as the focal point in attack.
Morgan Schneiderlin and Idrissa Gueye will take up the central midfield places while Wayne Rooney operates from a more attacking role.
Potential starting XI: Pickford; Kenny, Holgate, Williams, Martina; Schneiderlin, Gueye, Sigurdsson, Rooney, Lennon; Calvert-Lewin
| Position | Chelsea players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Caballero, Courtois, Eduardo |
| Defenders | Rudiger, Alonso, Zappacosta, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Clarke-Salter, Sterling |
| Midfielders | Fabregas, Drinkwater, Kante, Hazard, Pedro, Bakayoko, Moses, Willian, Scott, Ampadu, Kenedy |
| Forwards | Batshuayi |
Conte rested a number of first-team players for the Blues' cup game against Bournemouth on Wednesday, with Thibaut Courtois to return to the starting XI on Saturday.
Alvaro Morata scored a last-gasp winner having been introduced in place of Michy Batshuayi in the second half but was carded for his celebrations and will in turn miss the trip to Merseyside through suspension.
Potential starting XI: .Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Bakayoko, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro, Hazard
BETTING & MATCH ODDS
Chelsea are considered 4/6 favourites to win, with Everton 5/1 and a draw comes in at 14/5.
GAME PREVIEW
Everton remain unbeaten under the management of Allardyce and have a slightly better record in the form table than their opponents on Saturday.
Both sides have picked up 13 pounts from their past six Premier League outings, though the Toffees have a marignally better goal difference of +6 to the Blues' +5.
Allardyce has won his last two Premier League encounters with Chelsea – as many as he won in his first 24. He will become the first Premier League manager to win against the west London club with five different clubs if he wins this game; he is currently tied on four with Roy Hodgson.
A factor behind the Toffees' upturn in form is the impact Rooney has had under Allardyce - the former Man Utd forward has scored 10 goals in 16 league appearances so far this season – this is the fewest tally of games that it’s taken him to reach 10 goals in a league season since 2011-12 (14 games).
Chelsea come into the fixture fresh from three consecutive victories in all competitions, though, and will want to follow their midweek 2-1 Carabao Cup win against Bournemouth up with a victory here.
Everton have lost their last three Premier League games against Chelsea by an aggregate score of 0-10 - can Allardyce steer them to a home victory on Saturday?
