Chelsea have hit a dizzying downward spiral in record time over the past ten days or so — going to hell in a handbasket is a phrase that comes to mind — and there’s certainly a non-zero chance that the events of the last three games will end up derailing the entire rest of our season as well. The Champions League is done now, but unless we turn things around domestically, it’s done for the foreseeable future. And that could reverberate financially, and competitively as well. It’s easy to be overly dramatic in the soap opera that is Premier League football, but missing out on the Champions League could have serious repercussions on and off the pitch.
This is not lost on head coach Liam Rosenior either. He needs to find a way to unite the team and get them refocused on the eight games left, plus the FA Cup. Managers with more clout have failed at challenges like this before.
“We need to be resilient. We need to make sure we go to Everton with an organisation, with a freshness and intensity in our team, because we want to be in the Champions League next season. If we perform how I know we can, we can get there without the individual mistakes that we’re making at the moment.”
-Liam Rosenior; source: Chelsea FC
Let’s find out what we’re made of.
Date / Time: Saturday, March 21, 2026, 17.30 GMT; 1:30pm EDT; 11pm IST
Venue: Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool — our first time visiting Everton’s brand new stadium
Referee: Sam Barrott (on pitch); Paul Howard (VAR)
Forecast: spring is here
On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); USA, Universo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport MaXimo 2, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); JioHotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall of Everton celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with teammate Iliman Ndiaye during the Premier League match between Everton and Burnley at Hill Dickinson Stadium on March 03, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall of Everton celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with teammate Iliman Ndiaye during the Premier League match between Everton and Burnley at Hill Dickinson Stadium on March 03, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Everton team news: The new stadium has not been kind to The Toffees, with just five wins in fifteen tries at home in the league. But they did win last time out, against Burnley. Like Chelsea, their away record has been much better (Chelsea have the second best away record in the league; Everton the fourth) and that’s what’s kept them in European contention. They enter the weekend five points behind us, with both teams having eight games left to play.
So, a big challenge for David Moyes as well, though the returns from injuries of defenders James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite will be a welcome boost. Midfielder Charly Alcaraz remains out however, along with Jack Grealish, who’s out for the season. Chelsea loanee Tyrique George is ineligible — he’s played in five of the six games since joining in the winter transfer window, starting one (Everton have a buy-option).
Speaking of ex-Chelsea, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall continues to put in solid work and is now up to 6 goals and 5 assists for the season. He got hurt just 15 minutes into the reverse fixture at the Bridge earlier this season (missing the subsequent month with a hamstring strain), so that will surely add even more motivation for this game now.
View from the enemy: Royal Blue Mersey
Chelsea’s English head coach Liam Rosenior arrives ahead of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at Stamford Bridge, west London on March 17, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea’s English head coach Liam Rosenior arrives ahead of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at Stamford Bridge, west London on March 17, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Chelsea team news: Injuries are once again on the rise, with Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah picking up hamstring and ankle problems, respectively, in the past week. There’s a good chance they both will get to play this season yet, but not for a few weeks and certainly not this weekend. Meanwhile, Filip Jörgensen has had some sort of minor surgery in the wake of his shambolic performance in Paris, while Jamie Gittens is still dealing with his hamstring injury. Malo Gusto and Benoît Badiashile both missed the second leg against PSG with illness, but could be back available. Levi Colwill, who’s now in the latter stages of his ACL rehab, has started to join in on training, but he’s still a ways away from returning.
Beyond the physical injuries, we seem to be dealing with plenty of mental concerns as well, with questions being increasingly asked about our general motivation and attitude. And then there’s the budding Enzo Fernández saga, with the Vice-captain seemingly considering his future at the club and the club trying to explain away his apparent disillusion with a lost-in-translation gambit. And Enzo might be just the tip of the iceberg as Chelsea fail to live up to the expectations set not only by the fanbase but by the ownership group (who continue to move the goalposts while claiming that obviously we’re on the right track, obviously; it’s so obvious!).
Previously: We’ve won three of four against Everton, with the Toffees failing to score even one goal in those games. Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto (!) scored in our 2-0 win at the Bridge back in December. That game would turn out to be Enzo Maresca’s last Premier Leauge win as Chelsea head coach.