Paul Merson has predicted the winner of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Everton on Monday evening.
Sean Dyche’s side head to West London looking for back-to-back wins for the first time in 2024.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fortunate finish saw Everton end their long winless run against Burnley before the Premier League announced two further points would be docked on Monday.
The Toffees currently sit 16th in the table, below Brentford and just two points better off than Luton Town, who occupy the final relegation berth.
With games against Nottingham Forest and Luton in the pipeline, the next couple of weeks promise to make or break Everton’s campaign
Taking anything back from Stamford Bridge would be a bonus, and Merson has now predicted how he sees the fixture playing out on Monday.
Who does Paul Merson think will win on Monday – Everton or Chelsea?
Everton v Burnley – Premier League
In his weekly column for Sportskeeda, Merson has predicted Dyche’s side to try and keep things tight in the capital.
Everton will go to Stamford Bridge and look to keep it tight, but I just can’t see them hurting Chelsea. Against Burnley, they got all three points, but the goal they scored was from a fortunate break, to say the least.”
The Sky Sports pundit also highlighted the Toffees’ “cup final” against Forest next week.
“Their cup final is next week when they face Nottingham Forest at home – that game could well define their season. Everton have some nice fixtures and should be able to avoid the drop despite their points deduction,” he added.
“Sean Dyche deserves a lot of credit if he keeps them in the Premier League amid all the uncertainty around the club.”
However, Merson has backed his boyhood club to run out 2-0 winners.
“Chelsea have been well below par this season, but I think they should get the job done at home. Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Everton.”
What is Everton’s injury situation ahead of Chelsea on Monday?
Everton will be boosted by Amadou Onana’s return on Monday evening. The 22-year-old missed the win over Burnley. However, Dyche has confirmed he has now returned to full training.
“He’s back training [Onana]. He’s been training today,” Dyche told the media in his pre-match conference.
Elsewhere, the 52-year-old revealed that the coaching staff are managing Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has a slight hamstring issue.
“Jimmy Garner got a knock today, but we are happy it’s just a knock. Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] trained today but we are pretty positive with him settling down over the next couple of days. We are just having to watch the players going forward,” he added.
“He [Calvert-Lewin] has a minor niggly hamstring going forward. We are just being ultra-careful with it; he thinks he’s on top of it.”
Chelsea have endured another season to forget, but that can’t detract from the immense quality Mauricio Pochettino has at his disposal. Everton’s resolute defence will undoubtedly be tested if they want to take anything back to Merseyside.
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