Chelsea’s luck against Merseyside clubs seems to be quite rotten this season. Liverpool managed to beat the Blues 2-0 during their visit to Stamford Bridge. Everton matched the standards set by their neighbours as they beat the London Blues 1-0 at home, handing Chelsea their first loss in 3 months in the Premier League and ending a 9 game unbeaten run in the same competition.
The London Blues had the chance to end the night at the top of the table, ahead of rivals Tottenham and reigning champions Liverpool, but now sit in 3rd with 22 points from 12 games.
They could drop to 5th at the very least if Southampton and Leicester manage to win their respective fixtures against Sheffield United and Brighton and Hove Albion respectively.
The only goal of the game came from the spot in the first half as Gylfi Sigurdsson managed to score his sixth goal against Chelsea, sending Edouard Mendy the wrong way to calmly roll the ball into the back of the net.
6 – Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight Premier League meetings with Everton, losing both games in which they conceded (W4 D2). Shutout. pic.twitter.com/Gzzjz9KA1h
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 12, 2020
In a very physical battle between two very well matched teams, Everton managed to hold their own till the last minute and win the game on the back of the solitary goal in the match.
Chelsea were quite wasteful on the ball, and new arrivals Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, in particular, were guilty of loosely giving the ball away on multiple occasions. The fact that they did so in dangerous areas also gave the Toffees the chance to counter-attack very fast.
Reece James had two brilliant long-range shots on goal, as well as Mason Mount from a set-piece position, but they were just short on luck as the ball struck the post on two out of the three mentioned chances at the very least.
FT: Everton take the points today. 😔#EVECHE pic.twitter.com/Yhc2SyU4OB
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 12, 2020
Post-match, Lampard denied speculation that Chelsea were genuine title contenders this season, mentioning that the current squad had a long way to go if they wanted to get anywhere near the top.
Frank Lampard will be hoping to right the wrongs of the fixture gone by in their next outing against Wolves.
