English Premier League Round 4 Game Preview:
Chelsea @ Everton
Game Time: Saturday, 12:30 PM EST
Everton is the only team in the league that drew all their first three games of the season. Coach Roberto Martinez isn't having a great start with the team, with a lot of distractions with potential transfers from Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini, but Everton has already showed their offensive styled soccer with their new offensive minded coach. After three rounds, Everton is #2 in the league on shots per game with 18.3, #1 on ball possession with 64%, #4 in passing% with 85.7% and #4 in offensive dangerous build up plays with 12.3 plays per game! Their problem has been their inability to convert their chances, as their striker Nikica Jelavic was really awful in all games. Maybe this is why Everton signed Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea on loan, but he won't play this contest. Everton eventually sold Fellaini to Man Utd, but they got Gareth Barry and James McCarthy to give more depth to their midfield unit.
Chelsea hasn't played for the EPL since August 26th, but they are coming from a dramatic loss against Bayern Munich on the European SuperCup on the penalty shootout, after being up on the extra time until the final seconds of the game. After signing Willian, Chelsea loaned Lukaku to Everton to make room for Samuel Eto'o, who will be a reliable backup for Fernando Torres. In other news, both Oscar and Eden Hazard are doubtful for this game after missing International games in the middle of the week.
Everton has faced inferior teams until now (Norwich, WBA, Cardiff) and they went all out on attack in all those games, but I doubt that they will have the same strategy against a top team like Chelsea. However, I don't expect Everton to be completely defensive in here as well, as that's not on their coach's DNA. They will also have some space to attack, as Chelsea won't have a defensive mindset in here as well.
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