Everton v Chelsea: Mourinho to edge battle of the Blues

A lack of goals for Everton won’t be helped by the fact loan signing Romelu Lukaku is ineligible, while Chelsea’s ranks have been bolstered by the arrival of Samuel Eto’o.

Successive Premier League clean sheets for new Everton boss Roberto Martinez is a commendable achievement, though failing to notch at the other end is less so.

Three points from three league games is also a cause for concern on the blue half of Merseyside, especially when the drawing disease was such a prevalent cause of frustration last season.

Lukaku’s arrival will go some way to reversing this trend, but the fact the Belgian is unavailable is one of the main reasons Chelsea can leave Goodison Park with the points at odds of 21/10 with Ladbrokes.

Last season, one of Jose Mourinho’s most trusted lieutenants of his first stint, Frank Lampard, proved the difference when bagging himself a brace and his side the points, in a 2-1 win.

This is the sort of scoreline we can expect here given one of these two teams has won the contest when scoring twice in the last four meetings – so tear off a piece of 9/1 that Chelsea win this contest 2-1.

As we’ve already adhered to on this site, there are some prime candidates for a goal on both sides, as well as Lampard, who is an 8/1 shot to add to his opening-day strike at Hull.

South African Steven Pienaar has actually registered the first goal in the last two meetings between the sides at Goodison, and he’s handsomely priced at 16/1 to repeat the feat.

Meanwhile, Mourinho is likely to save his new signing Eto’o to arrive from the bench, especially if things are tight heading into the latter stages.

The Cameroonian ace, who has the proud record of scoring on debut for his last three clubs, is a great shout at 7/1 to have the final word on proceedings, which could mean the points as well.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim three £10 free bets when you bet £10