FA Cup 4th Round Preview: Everton vs Chelsea

Posted Friday, January 28, 2011 by thesportscampus.com

Everton play Chelsea at Goodison Park in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, as the Merseyside team look to salvage their disappointing campaign by having a good run in the ‘oldest association football competition in the world’. Both teams have had a mini-revival lately as Chelsea have won their last 3 games with ease while the Toffees are unbeaten in their last 4 games. Both Everton and Chelsea also recorded resounding wins in their previous round of FA Cup fixtures as Chelsea put 7 past a wretched Ipswich side and Everton took Scunthorpe to the cleaners and ran out 5-1 winners.

Everton have won the prestigious competition 5 times, with their latest victory coming in 1995. Chelsea are the current-holders of the crown and also won the competition in the 2008-2009 season. They have amassed a total of 6 FA Cup titles and both clubs will remember their meeting in the final of the competition a couple of years ago when the Blues of Chelsea registered a 2-1 victory against the Toffees at Wembley Stadium.

Everton:
The Toffees breezed through their third round clash against Scunthorpe with minimal fuss. But English Champions and Cup-holders Chelsea will be a different kettle of fish altogether. David Moyes’ men have managed just one clean sheet in their last 7 games and will rely·on experienced center-backs Sylvain Distin and Johnny Heitinga to keep Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda at bay. Phil Jagielka is available for selection again, but unleashing Drogba on him in his first game back from injury might be foolhardy.

Tim Cahill is certainly out of the reckoning as national commitments continue to sideline Everton’s talismanic midfielder. The team will hence depend on the guile of Mikel Arteta to create something in the final third, with the rest of the midfield more industrious rather than creative. Marouane Fellaini is likely to have his hands full as the defensive shield, and his battle with the powerful Michael Essien is likely to be one for the ages.

Everton will be encouraged by Chelsea’s lack of success at Goodison Park in recent years. The Toffees have been beaten just twice in 8 games by Chelsea and will be looking to replicate the performances which have kept the English Champions at bay in their previous meetings.

Chelsea:
Chelsea have bagged 13 goals in their last 3 games and look to have finally turned their season around after a woeful run of results. The Blues’ resurgence continued away from home at Bolton in midweek and Coach Carlo Ancelotti will be confident ahead of his side’s visit to Goodison Park to face Everton. The current FA Cup Champions demolished Ipswich in their previous round of fixtures, which reignited their season.

Chelsea’s team selection for the game against Everton will depend much on the precedence given by Coach Carlo Ancelotti to the FA Cup. The Blues’ game against Everton is followed up by a challenging Premier League away game at Sunderland followed by a tricky game against Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool. Ancelotti’s prioritization of the Premier League over the FA Cup might prove to be the team’s Achilles’ heel when they face Everton. The Chelsea Coach will be banking on Ivorian striker Didier Drogba to come up with the goods once more as he looks to get through the fixture unscathed and maintain his team’s assault on all three fronts - the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Relevant Head-to-head:
10th February, 2010 Everton 2 – 1 Chelsea (Premier League)
30th May, 2009 Chelsea 2 – 1 Everton (FA Cup)
22nd December, 2008 Everton 0 – 0 Chelsea (Premier League)
17th April, 2008 Everton 0 – 1 Chelsea (Premier League)

Form Guide:
Everton: (DDWWL)
22nd January, 2011 Everton 2 – 2 West Ham United (Premier League)
16th January, 2011 Liverpool 2 – 2 Everton (Premier League)
8th January, 2011 Scunthorpe 1 – 5 Everton (FA Cup)
5th January, 2011 Everton 2 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
1st January, 2011 Stoke 2 – 0 Everton (Premier League)

Chelsea: (WWWLD)
24th January, 2011 Bolton Wanderers 0 – 4 Chelsea (Premier League)
15th January, 2011 Chelsea 2 – 0 Blackburn Rovers (Premier League)
9th January, 2011 Chelsea 7 – 0 Ipswich (FA Cup)
5th January, 2011 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 – 0 Chelsea (Premier League)
2nd December, 2011 Chelsea 3 -3 Aston Villa (Premier League)

Probable Lineups:
Everton (4-4-2): Howard (GK), Neville, Heitinga, Distin, Baines, Coleman, Arteta, Fellaini, Osman, Anichebe, Beckford

David Moyes will most likely go with an unchanged squad which took to the field at the weekend against West Ham. Leighton Baines' ability to charge down the left flank should be handy, but it would be unrealistic to expect the same from veteran Phil Neville. The midfield of Seamus Coleman, Mikel Arteta, Marouane Fellaini and Leon Osman will probably take to the pitch against the Champions and support the attacking duo of Victor Anichebe and Jermaine Beckford. Louis Saha might also get a run-out if he recovers in time for the game. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov came off the bench to score against West Ham, and David Moyes might be tempted to give the Russian a chance to impress.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech (GK), Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Ramires, Anelka, Malouda, Drogba

Rotation has not worked well for King Carlo off late, and with his team finally winning, it seems silly to mess with a combination that is finally clicking. That being said, managers seldom do what is obvious, and Ancelotti will undoubtedly be tempted to give Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge and Josh McEachran a start. Frank Lampard is expected to miss the game having picked up a calf strain earlier this week in training and could be out of action for a week or so more.

Prediction: Both teams will likely try and feel their way into the game. However, Chelsea should be the overwhelming favourites to win. Everton Manager David Moyes might drop one of his forwards to the bench and play an extra midfielder to make the game as combative as possible. Unlike Chelsea, Everton won’t mind forcing a replay and take the game back to Stamford Bridge. But Chelsea’s good run of results might just give them the edge in this one.

Predicted Scoreline: Everton 1 – 2 Chelsea