Ronald Koeman made a big move to Everton this offseason, and it's hard to say that the move hasn't paid off. He knew that managing the Toffees was a gamble that could have blown up in his face. As it is, he's had a tremendous start through his first 10 matches, posting 18 points in that span, and one sure way to continue to endear himself to the fans at Goodison Park would be to go on the road and take out Chelsea.
This Premier League duel will go down Saturday, November 5, 2016, at 1:30 p.m. ET at Stamford Bridge. The match will be televised live on NBC.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Chelsea -187
Everton +550
Draw +325
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
Everton's hot start to the campaign is definitely notable, and it makes it a live underdog in this match even though it's a one-goal underdog.
That said, the Blues are the comfortable favorites at -187 on the moneyline, and they're expected to get the three points from this match. Everton can be had at +550 on the moneyline.
The total of 2.5 and -146 vig on the over is telling for a game that could feature at least three goals.
Key Injuries
Cesc Fabregas is a big player for the Blues, but he's been on the shelf for the last couple weeks with a muscle injury. He's probably not going to be in the lineup in this one either, and that's going to leave a relatively big hole up front to be filled. One man who could do the job, John Obi Mikel, is also out with a muscle injury, while Kurt Zouma likely will be on the shelf one more week due to lack of match fitness.
Everton's list of injuries is tremendously long. Captain Leighton Baines has a hamstring injury that cost him the game against Burnley, and in all likelihood, he won't be around for this match either. Muhamed Besic, Tyias Browning, Arouna Kone, Matthew Pennington and James McCarthy are all out of the fold, while Idrissa Gueye is serving a one-match ban. Clearly, Koeman is going to have to reach into his bag of tricks and find some special performances out of some players from down on the roster's depth chart if this match is going to end in an upset.
Recent Form
Chelsea has been in fine form in the Premier League in spite of the fact that it posted a dud of a match to get knocked out of the Capital One Cup against West Ham on October 26. The Blues are fresh off of a 2-0 win last week against Southampton on the road, and that's four straight wins since the start of October in the league.
Everton, a team long since done with Capital One Cup play, hasn't had anything else to worry about except for domestic play. They have scored in four straight matches but are only 1-2-1 to show for their work. The one win though, did come last week against West Ham at home thanks to a really good match out of Romelu Lukaku.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The Toffees are certainly live here, but we think the best they can ultimately do is pick up a point on the road. Given the option though, we'd rather be backing Everton at +1, knowing that there's a bit of a safety net here than laying the goal with Chelsea and needing it to win by two just to get the victory.
Lukaku is in such fantastic form right now, and though he's got a banged up team around him, Chelsea doesn't have as strong of an offense as you might think, especially with Fabregas on the shelf. Take the goal and hope for the best on the lesser, yet live team.
Premier League Odds: Chelsea 1, Everton 1
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