Chelsea, who have struggled to get out of the doldrums this season, are expected to be crushed by Everton, who have climbed out of the relegation zone despite dropping points.
Chelsea and Everton will face off in the 16th round of the 2023/23 Premier League at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England at 11:00 p.m. on October 10. With Chelsea in 10th place (5W4D6L – 19 points) and Everton in 17th place (6W2D7L – 10 points), the mood of the two teams heading into the match is one of polar opposites.
Everton slipped into the relegation zone after being punished with a 10-point deduction for breaking Premier League rules. However, they have been steadily picking up points and have finally managed to climb out of the relegation zone.
Last month, the Premier League announced on its official website that it had imposed a severe punishment of 10 points on Everton. The Premier League announced that it had “imposed a disciplinary penalty of 10 points on Everton for breaching the PSR with immediate effect,” dropping the Toffees, who were 14th in the table with four wins, two draws, and six losses, to 19th with four points. They were level on points with bottom-placed Burnley, but narrowly avoided the drop on goal difference.
The PSR is a profitability and sustainability scheme set by the Premier League, and Premier League teams are assessed annually on their compliance with the PSR rules. Teams are assessed by calculating the sum of their pre-tax profits over the last three years and are investigated and penalized for non-compliance if they incur losses in excess of £150 million over that period.
Everton reportedly incurred losses of £130 million ($162.9 billion) in the 2020/21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world. The Toffees sold key players such as Lukaku Digne, Philippe Coutinho, Anthony Gordon, and Moises Keane to cover the accumulated losses, but ultimately failed to avoid disciplinary action.
After protesting against the punishment, Everton managed to climb out of the relegation zone. Since the suspension, they’ve won two straight league games to pick up points. Despite a 0-3 loss to Manchester United, they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 and followed that up with a 3-0 thrashing of Newcastle United to sit in 17th place.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have yet to shake off their early-season slump. With five wins, four draws, and six losses this season, they have more defeats than wins and have failed to move up the standings with one win, one draw, and two losses in their last four league games. If Everton had not been penalized with a point deduction, Chelsea would have been ranked below Everton.
This has led to some negative comments about Chelsea’s upcoming schedule. “Everton are stronger on the road than at home, but I think they’ll beat Chelsea at home this time,” said former Premier League player Paul Merson, according to Football England, “Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea are missing something. You can’t even put your finger on it. They had a good result against Manchester City but were completely outplayed against Newcastle.”
“Manchester United also beat Chelsea. Chelsea have not had an easy time in the last few weeks. It was unbelievable to see them give the ball away so much when they have quality players. It’s a really bad situation.” “I would be shocked if Chelsea beat Everton. Everton are not creating enough chances either, but I think they’re good enough to win against Chelsea,” he said, predicting a 3-1 win for Everton.
The UK’s Evening Standard had a similar assessment. “Chelsea have no more excuses. They face a stern test at Goodison Park and will have to show they have the will to fight. They had one more day to prepare than Everton, and they played 10 men against Brighton. Lack of fitness can’t be an excuse either.”