Chelsea have the chance to go top of the Premier League for a brief time at least when they travel to Goodison Park to face Everton on Sunday.
Liverpool do not play until the later slot on the same day, meaning if Enzo Maresca's men win against the league leader's neighbours, they will go one point ahead.
Match preview
© Imago
Chelsea became the first team to win five straight Premier League games this season when they held on for a 2-1 victory over Brentford at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
The fact that Cole Palmer was not required to score or assist to help Chelsea to three points illustrates how much they have improved since last season, when they were so heavily reliant on their talisman for attacking output.
Combined with three routine wins in Europe, the Blues have now won all eight of their games since returning from the November international break - their best run of form since they won the league under Antonio Conte in 2016-17.
With another Italian at the helm, Chelsea are in the title picture again, sitting two points behind Liverpool, who dropped more points last weekend after having their trip to Goodison called off the week previous.
Maresca had the chance to rest his entire team again in midweek when they thrashed Shamrock Rovers 5-1 at the Bridge, finishing their Conference League campaign with a 100% winning record.
© Imago
The Chelsea boss will need his key players freshly prepared for this one too, given their woeful record at Goodison in recent years.
Five defeats on their last six trips to the blue half of Merseyside represents an awful return, and even during their glory days they would often struggle here, winning just four of the 17 league visits since 2008, as well as losing an FA Cup quarter-final in 2016.
Two of those four wins came in title-winning seasons under Conte and Jose Mourinho, so if Maresca can secure one here, that will be a huge statement of intent.
Their task will be made even tougher by the fact that there will be a feelgood factor around Goodison thanks to the news this week that the Friedkin Group have finally completed their takeover of the club, ending the dismal eight-year reign of Farhad Moshiri.
That came just a few days after Sean Dyche's side dug out an impressive 0-0 draw away to Arsenal at the Emirates, in a resolute defensive performance that is to be expected from a team under his stewardship.
© IconSport
Everton only managed one shot and that came inside six minutes, but they got the job done, moving onto 15 points, three clear of the drop, with a game in hand against Liverpool still to play.
Another shutout means no team in Europe's top-five leagues have kept more clean sheets than Everton (six) since November 1, while only Fiorentina, Atalanta and Real Sociedad have conceded fewer.
Attack remains a huge concern despite beating Wolves 4-0 in their last outing at Goodison, because out of the 17 teams who have been present over the last two Premier League seasons, no side has fewer goals from open play, and they have blanked more often than any other team this campaign (eight).
The most astonishing statistic is that in the last 10 gameweeks, Everton have only conceded on average an xG of 0.9 on their goal, but they have only managed to generate an xG of 0.8 in attack - no other side has anywhere near the same sort of disparity in opposing ends of the pitch.
With four 0-0 draws already having not even reached the halfway point, they are only one away from equalling their recent highest number across an entire season - five under David Moyes in 2008-09.
Team News
© Imago
Everton will be without Armando Broja because he is ineligible against his parent club, so Dominic Calvert-Lewin will start again, seeking to end his 11-game scoring drought which dates back to mid-September.
Dwight McNeil remains a doubt after suffering a flare up in his knee which caused him to miss the trip to Arsenal last weekend, so Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom will battle to start if he is absent.
Jarrad Branthwaite was superb in keeping Arsenal at bay at the Emirates, and despite feeling some discomfort following the draw, he has been in full training this week and should be fit.
Chelsea will be without Marc Cucurella after he was sent off in the aftermath of their win over Brentford, but while Renato Veiga appeared to be the most likely candidate to replace him, he started on Thursday, suggesting Maresca has different ideas.
Benoit Badiashile sustained an unspecified injury before the Brentford fixture, so Tosin Adarabioyo was drafted in and impressed against the Bees, and after not featuring in Europe, he is set for another start.
Wesley Fofana and Reece James remain out with hamstring problems, and Mykhaylo Mudryk will not be seen for the foreseeable future after he was charged with a doping offence last week.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Gueye, Mangala, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Caicedo, Tosin, Colwill, Gusto; Lavia, Enzo; Pedro Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
We say: Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Everton are unbeaten in five home league games since capitulating in the final three minutes against Bournemouth, and proved to Arsenal last weekend how difficult they are to break down when they have a fully fit defence.
Chelsea have lost on five of their last six visits here, and even though they have made remarkable progress this season, there is something about Goodison that seems to get the better of them.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
