The draw at Anfield was a pretty decent result but at home to West Ham, David Moyes would have been expecting better.
The performance wasn´t great, though it did improve in the second half, and despite the last gasp equaliser there was no masking the manager´s disappointment at yet another league draw. That´s twelve from twenty-three games now and though there´s still a comfortable enough gap between Everton and the relegation zone, turning a few of those draws in to wins would make things a whole lot more comfortable.
The FA Cup isn´t necessarily a welcome break from the league but it does offer Everton a chance of some tangible success this season. Getting Chelsea in the 4th round isn´t ideal but with the Londoners looking to be regaining their early season form, it´s probably best to play them now before they really hit their stride.
After picking up a well deserved draw at Stamford Bridge in early December, Moyes knows his side can cause Chelsea problems. Everton have had the better of things over the last couple of seasons, with their only defeat coming in the FA Cup final in 2009. Going further back things start to swing in Chelsea´s favour but in the last twenty games between these two sides, they´ve only beaten Everton by more than one goal on two occasions. So you have to expect this one to be tight, which ever way it goes.
Louis Saha was described as the spark which ignited things against West Ham and though Jermaine Beckford scored the equaliser at Stamford Bridge, the Frenchman should start ahead of him if deemed fully fit. Saha has scored four goals in his last four games against Chelsea and at 13/2 is a great bet to score first in this game. The bonus being that if he doesn´t start and someone else scores before he comes on then you get your money back. Marouane Fellaini was thrown up front to great effect against the Hammers and with Tim Cahill still away with Australia, the Belgian midfielder will be encouraged to take a more attacking role. He´s 12/1 to score first and 9/2 to score anytime.
There´s unlikely to be much in this one, with four of their last six meetings ending in a draw, which is 12/5 in this game. However, Everton have a habit of bouncing back from disappointment with a big result against a big side and they could arrest Chelsea´s current winning run by knocking them out of the FA Cup. A 1-0 win is 10/1 whilst a repeat of the 2-1 win Everton enjoyed in their league meeting at Goodison last season is 11/1. If David Moyes can guide his side past Chelsea this Saturday at 11/4 then he´ll have his eyes on lifting the trophy he came so close to winning two seasons ago.
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