Joao Pedro has improved his shot output since Liam Rosenior took charge of the Blues, with the development of Joao Pedro as a proper striker being one of the few successes that Liam Rosenior has had at Chelsea so far.

Only Erling Haaland has scored more non-penalty goals than Joao Pedro in the Premier League this season, dispelling the worry that many had when Chelsea signed him that he wouldn’t be able to provide enough goals for the Blues as their main striker.

Joao Pedro had four shots in Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to PSG in the Champions League during the week, seeing one of these attempts find the target. He’s taken 61 shots across his 26 starts in the Premier League this season for Chelsea (2.45 per 90), with 26 of these efforts finding the target (1.04 per 90).

Chelsea come into this one battered and bruised after a brutal week that saw them lose three straight games - Newcastle delivering the first blow, and PSG piling on with an emphatic 8-2 aggregate win to knock the Blues out of the Champions League.

Clean sheets have been hard to come by since Liam Rosenior took charge, with Chelsea managing just three shutouts in his 18 games at the helm. Now they travel to Goodison Park to face an Everton side they’ve beaten only once in their last eight away visits.

David Moyes has his team set up perfectly to exploit Chelsea’s vulnerabilities. Well-rested after a free midweek, Everton hold a clear fitness edge and are primed to target one of Chelsea’s biggest weaknesses this season: defending set pieces. The Blues have consistently conceded chances from dead-ball situations, and Moyes will be keen to take full advantage.

Everton have netted 18 goals in 15 home league games this season, nothing extraordinary, but the real threat lies in Chelsea’s fragile backline. With a win, the Toffees could cut the gap to Chelsea to just three points, and you get the sense they’ll have plenty of encouragement to get on the scoresheet. 

I don’t know how many times I'll have to write about Chelsea’s ill-discipline before something changes at Stamford Bridge, but for now, backing Chelsea cards and fouls remain a solid angle given the petulance and frustration that is rife in the Chelsea camp.

Chelsea committed 13 fouls in the initial league meeting between these sides, picking up one caution in that game - though they were fortunate to avoid a second with that foul count. The Blues have picked up 69 yellow cards across their 30 games in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 2.3 cards per game.

Only Brighton and Tottenham (74) have picked up more yellow cards than Chelsea in the Premier League this season, with Chelsea topping the yellow card rankings in each of the last two Premier League seasons.

I can see frustration creeping into Chelsea’s game here; they don’t fare well in these sorts of environments, and they also are at constant risk of picking up a red card, having collected more than any other side in the Premier League this season (7). 

Corners have been the common trend in the Premier League this season, with this campaign seeing more goals from non-penalty set pieces than we have in any of the last 10 Premier League seasons. This works out to just shy of 30% of the goals in the division being scored from non-penalty set pieces, making backing corners an appealing angle in Premier League games at the moment.

The most recent head-to-head meeting between these sides saw 11 match corners, with Everton contributing seven of these. I think we’ll see David Moyes’ side utilise this avenue again here. Chelsea have been weak from these situations all season, mainly because their squad doesn’t have the appropriate physical profiles to deal with some of the aerial threats in the Premier League.

Everton are seeing 9.47 match corners per game in the Premier League this season, with their home games seeing this metric rise slightly to 9.60 corners per game. Chelsea are seeing 10.30 match corners per game in the Premier League this season, with this tally staying pretty consistent when looking at their away matches this term (9.80 per game).

One of the bright spots of another unfulfilled season for Chelsea, Joao Pedro has adapted to leading the line at one of the Premier Leagues biggest clubs pretty well, probably finding it easier to fit in by following the well trodden route from Brighton to Chelsea that a few of his current teammates have also walked. He has scored 21 goals in 45 games in all competitions, 14 of which have come in the Premier League.

His substitution in the midweek defeat to PSG on the hour marked surely signalled that he will be starting this one, especially with the international break next weekend. He has scored five goals in the last five league games, so is in good form.

Everton are still adapting to their new home on Bramley Moore Dock, which can be demonstrated by their away points tally being five points higher than their home tally. Burnley aside, who we know are a lost cause away from home, The Toffee’s have failed to keep a clean sheet in six of their last seven at home.

Enzo Fernandez fuelled speculation about his Chelsea future following Chelsea’s 8-2 aggregate loss to PSG in the Champions League, with the midfielder claiming that he ‘doesn’t know’ what the future holds for him.

I’m not surprised that we’re seeing players like Fernandez consider their Chelsea future. The project looks like a mess at the moment - but there are quality players within it, and Fernandez is one of those who may be starting to lose a bit of confidence in the project he signed up for.

Liam Rosenior sees Fernandez as a more advanced player, with the former Strasbourg boss often playing a double pivot of Santos and Caicedo behind Fernandez, and even playing the Argentine on the left at times to disguise the role of Cole Palmer, which has had mixed results.

Only Palmer (9) and Joao Pedro (14) have scored more Premier League goals for Chelsea this season than Fernandez (8), with this tally representing his best goalscoring record in the Premier League since joining the Blues. Fernandez is just as likely to pick up a card, with only Moises Caicedo (9) picking up more yellow cards than Fernandez (8) in the Premier League this season for Chelsea.

I thought Dewsbury-Hall was a good squad option for Chelsea in his one season at the club, and he has developed further into one of Everton’s key players.

I think he’ll be motivated to get on the scoresheet against his former club, and is notably Everton’s joint top scorer in the Premier League with six goals to his name. This is particularly notable as Dewsbury-Hall missed quite a few games in the middle of the season due to injury, so he has the best goalscoring record at Everton if we go by goals per game.

Dewsbury-Hall has taken 29 shots in the Premier League this season (1.36 per 90), seeing 10 of these efforts find the target (0.47 per 90). These aren’t standout numbers, but I think there is enough evidence to suggest that they will rise here given the issues that Chelsea have been having at the back under Liam Rosenior - keeping just three clean sheets across 18 matches.

Tim Iroegbunam is one of the most aggressive midfielders I’ve seen over the last few seasons in the Premier League, and his card record matches up with this claim. He’s collected eight yellow cards across just 13 starts in the Premier League this term, which is more than any other Everton player.

This is quite a small sample size, but his card record remains convincing when looking at it across previous seasons. Iroegbunam picked up four yellow cards across just 564 minutes of action in the Premier League last term - committing 15 fouls across these games (2.39 fouls committed per 90).

He’s been just as aggressive when looking over his foul numbers this term, committing 22 fouls across his 13 starts in the Premier League (1.79 per 90). This consistent high foul rate always gives Iroegbunam a solid chance of picking up a caution, and I anticipate his foul numbers remaining high here.