Chelsea v Everton: five key battles

Chelsea host Everton on Saturday evening in a fixture that produced six second-half goals back in January. Here are five potential battles we think could help decide the match at Stamford Bridge.

David Luiz v Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte spoke about both Luiz and Lukaku in his pre-match press conference – he praised Blues defender Luiz for the way he has fitted in since rejoining the club and called Lukaku, a reported summer target, “a very good player”. How Luiz handles the physical battle with the Belgian could be important if Chelsea are to keep their record of not having conceded in the league with three at the back.

Diego Costa v Ashley Williams

Only two players have scored more Premier League goals than Lukaku, and Costa is one of them. He was described this week as “the complete player” by Conte. This weekend he comes up against Williams, signed in the summer from Swansea. The pair got involved in a bit of a scrap a couple of seasons ago, so this will be worth watching.

Nemanja Matic v Gareth Barry

With midfield workhorse Idrissa Gueye suspended, Everton will have to rely more heavily on veteran Barry, who has been in superb form of late. He has even scored a couple of goals, but is a regular accumulator of yellow cards and one more will see him banned too. Matic has been credited with assists in each of Chelsea’s last four home games as he thrives with N’Golo Kante alongside him.

Marcos Alonso or Gary Cahill v Yannick Bolasie

Everton might decide to match up Chelsea’s 3-4-3 formation, which would see one-time Hillingdon Borough man Bolasie play in the Willian/Pedro role as the right-sided forward. In that instance, he would look to cause havoc in between Cahill and Alonso. Alternatively, if they stick with 4-2-3-1, Bolasie will play a little wider and hope to pin back wing-back Alonso.

Victor Moses v Bryan Oviedo

On the other flank, the reborn Moses will be looking to do a similar job on Oviedo, who will play either full-back or wing-back. Moses has been one of the chief beneficiaries of Conte’s formation switch – not only has he scored and created, but he has tracked back and done his share defensively.