It's back to Premier League action tomorrow for Enzo Maresca and his players as Chelsea travel to Merseyside to take on Everton. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton set the scene ahead of our final league trip to Goodison Park.
There's nothing quite like the festive football schedule. Nine points are on offer to the Blues over an intense nine-day period – it's a generous 12 days for fellow London sides Brentford and Arsenal – and it all begins for Chelsea on Merseyside.
Everton head into the game 16th in the Premier League table. Only three victories have been recorded thus far and all against clubs in the bottom six. The Toffees' only other meeting against one of the current top five came last weekend at Arsenal, and they recorded a creditable goalless draw.
Sean Dyche's side had just 24 per cent of the ball at the Emirates but they were resolute and difficult to break down. That desire to defend has also been shown at Goodison, with Everton unbeaten in five home matches.
Of course, that home will change after this season. The Toffees, taken over by the Friedkin Group this week, will relocate to a newly-constructed stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock for the 2025/26 season. So tomorrow's fixture is Chelsea's last scheduled league visit to Goodison.
Our last ten defeats to the Toffees in all competitions have all been inflicted at the famous old stadium. However, we have recorded four victories in that period, with the last coming in August 2022.
The Blues also head to the North West in good form. Our 5-1 win over Shamrock Rovers was our eighth successive victory in all competitions and Maresca's side are now unbeaten in eleven matches.
Chelsea team news
Pedro Neto is available for selection after serving a one-match suspension last weekend and Joao Felix made his return from injury against Shamrock Rovers. Teenagers Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George also officially stepped up to the first team this week and will be options for Maresca.
A decision will be taken over Romeo Lavia's fitness ahead of the game but Reece James, Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofona are ruled out due to injury.
One of the bigger decisions Maresca faces is who replaces Marc Cucurella; the Spaniard is suspended due to the red card he received after the final whistle was blown on our victory over Brentford.
Renato Veiga has often filled in at left-back and inverted into midfield, and his height could prove useful against the Toffees. However, Malo Gusto has also swapped flanks when required while Levi Colwill has experience on the left side of the backline.
What the Blues have showcased this term is reliability on the road. We have scored more goals (23), recorded more wins (six), and claimed more points (19) away from home than any Premier League rival.
And should Everton sit deep and look to frustrate, the 26 chances created against Brentford’s feisty low block last weekend is an indication of the creativity in Maresca's side.
Cole Palmer netted four when Everton visited Stamford Bridge in April and repeated the trick in the first half against Brighton and Hove Albion in September. The England international is one of four Chelsea players to score a hat-trick this term, the latest being Marc Guiu, who became our second-youngest treble scorer on Thursday.
And it's worth noting a third of the league goals the Toffees have conceded this season (7/21) have come on or after the 75th minute. The Blues have netted seven over that timeframe.
The history
Everton’s new waterfront abode will be ready for occupation in 2025/26. So, this is Chelsea’s grand finale in the league at Goodison Park, with its late Victorian charm and wrinkles.
Our first venture to the stadium came in Division One on 1 April 1908. George Hilsdon chewed up the Toffees' defence that day with a well-taken hat-trick without reply.
Our next league win at Goodison took ten years, but the 3-2 result on the opening day of 1919/20 was one of the biggest shocks ever in this fixture.
Everton were reigning champions since the Football League’s wartime suspension in 1915. Chelsea, relegated at the same time, had only just been reinstated to the top flight after the exposure of a match-fixing scandal involving Liverpool and Man United that sealed the Pensioners’ fate.
Meanwhile, between a professional 2-1 victory in 1969 and a crazy 4-3 win in 1984, the Everton ground was the graveyard to any Chelsea ambitions.
But between losses in 2000 and 2010, it was the Londoners’ turn to dominate the spoils at the home of the Toffees.
In that time, Chelsea managed six victories and remained unbeaten in ten visits across all competitions. The memorable 6-3 thriller in August 2014 – Diego Costa scoring two for the visitors – was a result that would have delighted our Life Vice President, Lord ‘Dickie’ Attenborough, who had recently died.
Our most recent success at Goodison came in August 2022 thanks to an unanswered penalty from Jorginho after Abdoulaye Doucoure fouled Ben Chilwell.
Know this…
Everton’s opening game under their new ownership group was also the first competitive Chelsea fixture that was played in the Boehly/Clearlake era.
The Blues have won four of our five matches away to bottom-half teams this term, drawing the other at Man United. We struck 17 goals in the process.
Palmer has fired 57 shots this season and set up 44 for his teammates. He is the only player to have a hand in more than 100 attempts this season.
Liverpool and Chelsea, the top two in the Premier League, both have a better points-per-league game record on the road than at home: 0.05 for the Reds, 0.50 for the Blues.
Almost two-thirds of our league goals have been scored away from the Bridge this season, and 23 is the third-highest tally after eight games in a Premier League campaign. It is only bettered by Liverpool in 2021/22 (26) and Man City in 2011/12 (25)
Everton have recorded 109 goalless draws in the Premier League era, the most by any club.
Forty years ago on 22 December 1984, sixth-placed Chelsea won a Christmas cracker at league leaders Everton 4-3 thanks to a hat-trick from £90,000 signing Gordon Davies and a brilliant solo effort from Colin Pates.