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Gary Naylor writes: “In Stratford Upon Avon for the matinee of Much Ado About Nothing. “Beatrice and Benedick in Shakespeare’s original rom-com set in the world of top-flight football and celebrity culture, where scandal-filled rivalries are the hottest new thing and lads and WAGs collide.” Might work... and might not. This Beatrice is a journo and Benedick a player (which kinda makes sense), but which other characters from Shakey’s canon map on to footballers? Gazza is Falstaff of course, Enzo Maresca will be keeping an eye out for a Cassius and Brutus if he loses today and I’m increasingly inclined to cast Reuben Amorim as Prospero, searching for the old magic on his lonely Old Trafford island.”
Send in any Bard banter here. I’m not much use, having tuned out a bit during English Lit although I did go on a sixth-form trip to Stratford to see Shakey’s work. Trouble is, my main recollection is buying a New Order album in a local record shop. ‘Brotherhood’ I think.
Peter Crouch on TNT now cracking a gag about his tan. It’s because he’s nearer the sun due to being tall, he quips.
Beto had a spurt of five goals in five games back in February but the Everton striker has lost his scoring touch since. Throw in a pair of games for his country, Guinea-Bissau, to make this stat stand out more and he’s gone nine games without a goal.
That Chelsea front four certainly has bags of talent. Neto has been a weird one this season. The fear was that he’d spent half of it on the sidelines having done his hammy but the bottom line is that he’s just not been very good: five goals in 39 apperances and only four in the league. Maybe the touch, turn, bang winner he fired home in injury-time against Fulham last weekend is a sign of things to come.
Yara El-Shaboury
Yara El-Shaboury is our roving reporter at Stamford Bridge today and she brings you this…
Yesterday, Enzo Maresca said Chelsea’s transfer plans in the summer will hinge on the team qualifying for the Champions League next season and today’s early kick-off against Everton will be a huge factor in whether that dream will come to fruition.
The home side have struggled in front of goal of late, with several of their forwards out of form. That hasn’t deterred the Chelsea fans outside of Stamford Bridge though. A pack of fans are in full voice, singing ‘Cole Palmer, he’s going to score’ while waiting for the team bus. Not a particularly creative chant but one that shows how much belief supporters have in the 22-year-old who is on a 16-game goal drought. He starts alongside Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson.
For Chelsea, this is Romeo Lavia’s first start since January. It’s a decent fact but nothing compared to the stat that Cole Palmer hasn’t scored for 16 games. With Lavia partnering Enzo Fernandes in central midfield, Moses Caicedo is shunted to right-back, meaning skipper Reece James only starts on the bench.
How weird to list an Everton team without writing the name Tarkowski. A hamstring injury has ruled the defender out for the season and his absence here ends a run of 109 consecutive Premier League games.
Teams
Chelsea: Sanchez, Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Lavia, Enzo, Madueke, Palmer, Neto, Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Badiashile, Tosin, James, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Sancho, Nkunku.
Everton: Pickford, Patterson, O’Brien, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gana, Garner, Doucoure, Harrison, Ndiaye, Beto.
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Keane, McNeil, Chermiti, Young, Coleman, Alcaraz, Iroegbunam.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire).
Preamble
Chelsea have played 49 matches in all competitions this season and just two have ended goalless. The first was against Everton three days before Christmas, a result which ended an eight-game winning streak and sparked a decline in fortunes. Enzo Maresca’s side lost their next two matches. In truth, that Everton stalemate may well be a turning point from which they’ve never really recovered. Chelsea still have hopes of a top-five finish and a Champions League spot next season but it’s absolutely in the balance. With Liverpool and Arsenal taking up two places, it’s now a five-horse race for the remaining three between Man City (61pts), Nottingham Forest (60), Newcastle (59), Chelsea (57) and Aston Villa (57). Chelsea, Forest and Newcastle have a game in hand following Man City’s dramatic 2-1 in win over Villa in midweek.
For Everton, the David Moyes new manager bounce has gone rather flat. The returning hero led his side to a flurry of points to immediately rule out any fears of relegation but a current thermometer check shows just one league win in eight. A kinder take is that they’ve drawn five of those games and the only defeats were to Liverpool and Manchester City.
If all that suggests Everton might just nick another point here, the last meeting between the pair at Stamford Bridge does not. Rewind to April 2024 and Chelsea thrashed the Toffees 6-0, a young chap called Cole Palmer finishing with four goals after completing a hat-trick inside 30 minutes.
With everything virtually rubber-stamped at the top and bottom of the table, the battle for European spots is where it’s at now. Let’s get this thing on! Kick-off is at 12.30pm.
