“Let’s get things done together,” Cole Palmer said on his Instagram Story the night before Chelsea faced Everton, returning to Stamford Bridge after three games in a row, two of which we lost in rather disappointing fashion. In fact, it’s now four games without a win, equaling Enzo Maresca’s longest streak as Blues manager.
Of course, the long month of December is as popular here as it is in Counting Crows’ catalog – Nana Nana, yes – But there are reasons to believe we can finish in the top four again this season. Maybe next year.
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Currently, the team has dropped to fifth place, behind rising Manchester City and Aston Villa (both of whom will also face off in a few weeks), with the battle for a Champions League spot looming. The difference between fourth place and 12th place is four points. Winter will take its toll; can we stop the slide and survive?
Date/Time: Saturday, December 13, 2025 15:00 GMT; 10am ET; 8:30pm EST
Place: Stamford Bridge, SW6
referee: Tom Bramall (on the pitch); Stuart Atwell (VAR)
forecast: The sun is shining, although not warm
On TV: None (UK); US, Universo (US); Star Sports Select HD2 (India); SuperSport MaXimo 1, Canal+ Sport 4 (NGA); Elsewhere
Streaming media: None (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (US); JioHotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Chelsea team news: Chelsea took the lead again on Tuesday night as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1. Enzo Maresca blamed it on the team losing “control” in the second half, but that seemed to be a fairly generous assessment of the state of the game. We equalized and a win looked inevitable without the home team having to make a special effort on either side. So it’s been a frustrating run of poor form after a peak a few weeks ago, when we impressively beat Barcelona and went head-to-head with Arsenal with just ten men.
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Getting someone like Cole Palmer to suit up should help, but I’m not entirely sure that’s the kind of thing that can be fixed by one or two individual players. Sustained excellence requires collective excellence and the most, if not nightly, performance from your stars. Speaking of whom, Palmer didn’t play midweek, so hopefully he’s in better shape than he was last week. It was his first game back and it showed.
The good news is that Wesley Fofana’s eye, which began to swell and affected his vision after he was accidentally kicked in the face by an Atlanta player, is now fine. Despite the absence of Liam Delap, Levi Colwell, Dario Esugo and Romeo Lavia, this will be the final game of Moises Caicedo’s three-match ban.
Everton team news: The Toffees have won four of their five games and have risen rapidly up the table and are currently seventh, just one point and two places behind us. They may not have scored many goals, but they have conceded few too, and have kept clean sheets in all four of their wins.
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Former Chelsea substitute Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been in fine form on Merseyside, leading the side with four goals, including three from their last four. Summer signings Jack Grealish (on loan from Manchester City) and Tierno Barry have also made a positive impact, although Barry, the £37m forward from Villarreal, only played 17 games before opening his account last weekend.
Barry should be back from injury after suffering a shoulder injury scare in the same game, while Tim Irogbunam and Ghana Gueye will also return from suspension. Garner was sent off for an attack on his own team-mate Michael Keane – violence is violence, no matter what the target – so we will see to what extent he is welcomed back into the squad. (He will be heading to the Africa Cup of Nations after this game, anyway.) Seamus Coleman, Jarrad Branthwaite and Merlin Rohr are injured.
From the enemy’s perspective: Mersey royal blue
Before: Chelsea have not lost to Everton at home since 1994: 30 consecutive wins at the Bridge (even Tottenham have only won 28 in a row). Manager David Moyes, meanwhile, has never won at the Bridge in his long career. This will be his 21st attempt. Nicholas Jackson scored the only goal in this game last season and it was enough to make Everton fail to score against us in four consecutive games, home and away.