Everton head to Chelsea on Saturday afternoon in a rich vein of form, catapulting themselves from 14th to seventh in the table in the space of just a week.
Everton had been flirting with the top half for the best part of six weeks, though their recent strong run of form has seen that become a reality, becoming one of the form sides in the Premier League.
13 points from 18 has made David Moyes’ men a newly-feared outfit, and Chelsea will be wary of their steamrolling form.
But 106-goal Premier League icon Peter Crouch believes that Everton will walk away empty-handed – despite praising the Toffees for their form of late.
Everton v Nottingham Forest - Premier League
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Peter Crouch believes Everton will walk away from Stamford Bridge without a point on Saturday
Speaking on That Peter Crouch Podcast, the tall Premier League hero conceded that although Everton have been in strong form lately with Europe on the horizon, they will suffer away against the Blues, predicting Everton to lose in the capital.
Crouch said: “Everton have won four from their last five.
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Everton vs Chelsea predicted XI.
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“I don’t see them getting anything from this. I’m going to go with Chelsea. 2-0.”
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It’s fair to say that Everton don’t have the best away record at Stamford Bridge, having only won there once in the Premier League era in 33 attempts, only mustering a draw in 13 of those.
But Crouch was adamant that the Toffees would not fare well enough in the capital to walk away with anything, robbing them of the opportunity to potentially go fourth in the top-flight table come the end of play on Monday.
Chelsea are in poor form and Everton could punish them on Saturday afternoon
Whilst Everton have won four of their last five Premier League clashes, the same can’t be said for Chelsea.
Ever since their 3-0 win over Barcelona at the end of November, the Blues have yet to win in any of their four resulting fixtures – taking a valiant draw against Arsenal despite having 10 men, before losing to Leeds United, drawing to Bournemouth, and falling foul of Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Everton last won a league game at Stamford Bridge in 1994… Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall wasn’t even born yet. 😳 How is this still a thing?
An overview of Everton's Premier League record against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Credit: Getty Images/Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth.
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That form won’t be good enough for Enzo Maresca, and his side need to stop the rot at Stamford Bridge before they face further tough challenges against Newcastle United and Aston Villa in the Premier League over the festive period.
Chelsea hero Joe Cole believes that their inexperience is showing at this part of the season, and that means that the Toffees will go into the game full of confidence.
David Moyes will look to exploit that, proving not only Crouch wrong, but naysayers who have made reference to their awful away record in SW6.
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