- Both teams have yet to lose this season
- Everton have won four of the last five meetings between the sides at Goodison Park
- Romelu Lukaku set to face his former club after record move to Everton
After opening the season with two matches against newly promoted sides, Chelsea face their first challenge of the season as they travel north to Goodison Park to take on Everton on Saturday, which can be seen live at 12:30 ET on NBC. Chelsea will look to continue their winning streak as Everton must try and recover from a tough draw against Arsenal last weekend.
The biggest story for each side revolves around their star striker, starting with Diego Costa at Chelsea. Costa has scored twice in his first two Premier League games, and has looked like to pure striker Jose Mourinho wanted when he purchased the Spanish international this summer. But the former Atletico Madrid man suffered a “minor muscular problem” in training and his status is in doubt for the match Saturday. If Costa is not fit, Mourinho will look for other options up top. Didier Drogba could be called on to lead a Chelsea attack as he has so many times in the past, or maybe Fernando Torres will get a chance to find some minutes after Mourinho quelled rumors of a possible transfer.
For the Toffees, Romelu Lukaku will face his former club after a record transfer to Everton over the summer. The fee of £28 million made Lukaku the go-to-guy for Roberto Martinez’s side, as opposed to excess talent left on the bench at Chelsea. The big Belgian showed flashes of his brilliance last week, including a barreling run down the sideline followed by an assist on Steven Naismith’s goal, but has yet to find the score sheet himself. Nothing would be sweeter than a goal against the side that let him go.
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What they’re saying
Jose Mourinho on Diego Costa: “At this time I can’t say much, we’re trying everything for him to play tomorrow. He didn’t train the last two days but today [Friday] is the last day, so today we must make a decision to select him or not. He has to try a light training session to see if the reaction is positive. If the reaction is positive we take him to Everton, to play or to sit on the bench, let’s see.”
Everton boss Martinez on Romelu Lukaku facing his former club: “He wanted to play 90 minutes against Leicester [in the opener] when he was not ready and wanted to stay on with an injury against Arsenal [last Saturday] when it would be easy for him to say he wanted to be ready for Chelsea and so wait until he is 100%. He is not going through the motions, he is raising his levels.”
Prediction
Chelsea have looked dominant in their opening matches, but have yet to face an opponent nearly as skilled as Everton. Goodison Park is never an easy place to play, and if Diego Costa can’t go, Chelsea could see some of the scoring struggles they faced last year. Lukaku scores against his former club, but Mourinho’s men stay unbeaten with a 1-1 draw.