Relegation-battling Everton travels to Stamford Bridge this evening to face Chelsea in the Premier League with the knowledge that an unlikely victory could be imperative in taking control of the congested bottom half of the table.
Just five points separate Crystal Palace in 12th and Southampton at the bottom of the division, with Sean Dyche’s Toffees perching in 15th place, just one point and three places above Bournemouth in 18th.
Everton was in a far more distressing position when former Burnley boss Dyche took the reins at the club in January, replacing Frank Lampard in the Goodison Park dugout, and have languished in the danger zone across seven of the past nine match-weeks, with a dogged home victory over high-flying Brentford at the weekend restoring safety for the time being.
In mere weeks, Chelsea’s victory on home turf against an outfit such as Everton would have been thrown into question, with Graham Potter’s Blues boasting just two victories from 15 matches across all competitions, but the cogs finally appear to be falling into place in west London, and three successive victories and qualification to the Champions League quarter-finals has rewritten the narrative.
A quintessentially dogged Dyche masterclass will be needed to quell the home side’s threat, and the 51-year-old must consider unleashing Conor Coady to ensure defeat is not the outcome.
Should Coady start against Chelsea?
Since signing for Everton on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer, Coady has been a solid and commanding presence from the heart of the defense, ensuring last season’s frailties were not so profound this time around.
And while the Merseyside Blues find themselves embroiled in turmoil once again, the resolve of the back-line has discernibly improved, with only 38 goals shipped from 27 fixtures.
Having made 22 appearances in the top-flight, the 30-year-old “rock”, as lauded by Chuck Booth, Coady has completed 85% of his passes and averaged a remarkable 3.7 clearances per match, as per Sofascore.
According to FBref, the £55k-per-week dynamo also ranks among the top 25% of center-backs for goals per 90, when compared to those playing across Europe’s big five leagues, which could prove invaluable as Everton seek to bypass the home resilience from a multitude of angles.
With the Premier League regular having made 174 appearances in the competition, his experience and galvanizing presence could indeed pay dividends for the Toffees, who will look to emulate fellow relegation contenders Saints’ 1-0 victory at the ground four weeks ago.
Chelsea is creeping back towards prominence, but Dyche has the perfect recipe for disrupting the flow, and should his outfit implement it successfully, the fear of plummeting down a division could look a distant possibility.
On that note, defeat could send the Blues spiraling back into trouble, and with Coady at the back, organizing and motivating his peers, a landmark result could be achieved.
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