Frank Lampard will face his former side as Everton play Chelsea at Goodison Park in their Premier League season opener tonight.
Lampard was appointed Everton boss last season, his first job since being sacked by Chelsea the previous year, and the club narrowly avoided relegation.
Everton look set to face a similar battle this season after losing Richarlison while Chelsea’s place in the top four looks under threat after Arsenal and Manchester United strengthened over the summer.
Thomas Tuchel has added Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella to his side after a busy summer of transfer business under the club’s new owners.
Here’s everything you need to know.
When is Everton vs Chelsea?
The match kicks off at 5:30pm on Saturday 6 August at Goodison Park, Liverpool.
How can I watch it?
It will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League, with coverage of Saturday Night Football getting underway from 5:00pm. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Team news
Everton have been rocked by the news that Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss around “six weeks” due to a knee injury suffered in training. With Solomon Rondon also out due to a suspension from last season, it means Dele Alli could lead the line. Yerry Mina is available after overcoming a knock, but the match should come too soon for Allan and Seamus Coleman while Tom Davies, Andre Gomes and Andros Townsend are out.
Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly should make their debuts but although Marc Cucurella was signed in time to be registered in Chelsea’s squad, the left back is unlikely to feature. Timo Werner is an injury doubt due to a hamstring injury but the forward has also been subject to speculation about his future and may not have featured anyway. Ben Chilwell may not be fully fit but with Marcos Alonso on the verge of joining Barcelona, Emerson Palmieri may start instead.
Predicted line-ups
Everton: Pickford; Godfrey, Keane, Tarkowski; Patterson, Doucoure, Iwobi, Mykolenko; Gordon, Alli, McNeil
Chelsea: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Koulibaly; James, Kante, Kovacic, Emerson; Mount, Havertz, Sterling
Odds
Everton: 5/1
Draw: 16/5
Chelsea: 4/6
Prediction
Everton will work hard but look to be a very limited team that is not ready for the new season. Chelsea have hardly had the best preparations either but you can usually rely on their defence and Everton should not pose too many problems without a striker. Raheem Sterling could get the winner in a tight opening win for the Blues. Everton 0-1 Chelsea