Chelsea v Everton: Premier League – live

10 min: Awful miss from Beto! Oh my word, Everton should be ahead! Coleman overlaps Young and gets to the byline completely free. The Irishman takes a touch, looks up and fizzes a low cross across the six-yard box. Beto is there, onside, but the Portuguese can only shin it over the bar from three yards out! It came at the striker quickly but Beto really should have put that away.

7 min: Madueke has started really nicely on Chelsea’s right flank. Twice he has had the beating of Mykolenko. The winger has had a frustrating campaign so far, this is the first time he has started back-to-back games under Pochettino. Madueke scored a great goal at Sheffield United, there’s definitely a player in there.

5 min: Both keepers are nearly caught out by underhit backpasses but Petrovic and Pickford survive.

“That Everton away kit is such an eyesore that it warrants a severe style-points deduction”, quips Peter Oh.

3 min: It will not shock you to read that Everton have lumped a free kick to the back post, where Tarkowski is waiting, but Chelsea franticly clear away the knock down.

1 min: A nasty one for Gallagher, who get the full weight of Onana (and his studs) on the top of his right foot in the game’s opening moments.

Peeeeeeeep! And we’re off at the Bridge.

The teams are out! Chelsea in the royal blue, Everton in their gross fluorescent away kit that is somewhere between pink and orange. Eurgh.

This is genuinely heartwarming.

Speaking of pace, look at that Everton right flank: Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young, combined age 73. Great players in their day, but perhaps not the best duo to face Mykhailo Mudryk.

“Must be an attempt to bore that whippersnapper Mudryk to sleep with stories about the old days of pre-VAR football”, emails Edan Tal.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about Jarrad Branthwaite. What a brilliant young defender he is, and I really hope he makes the England squad this summer, even if I suspect he won’t make Southgate’s starting XI (although he should IMO).

The suitors will be hovering this summer, regardless of whether Everton survive or not. Manchester United have been linked with an £80m bid, which is not the first time in recent years they have spent that sum on a big English centre back. But Branthwaite is a more complete player than Harry Maguire, even at 21 years old, and has that magic quality: pace.

Both sides are depleted, it’s that stage of the season. But Chelsea’s bench looks particularly inexperienced. Everton will fancy their chances tonight, despite manager Sean Dyche just admitting that they will be without Calvert-Lewin and Gana Gueye tonight:

Dom’s got a tight hamstring, nothing more, so we’re happy in the sense that we think it will recover quickly. It was a tight call. We also lost Gana this morning who woke up with a tight calf.

Very intrigued and heartened to see Everton midfielder Dele Alli making his punditry debut on Monday Night Football. The England international, still just 28, has had a rough ride in recent times, overcoming a sleeping pill addiction and speaking openly about his traumatic childhood. Last year he revealed he was sexually abused at the age of six and selling drugs aged eight.

Since signing for Everton on a free transfer in January 2022, injuries and other issues have restricted Alli to just 13 Premier League appearances. As part of that deal from Spurs, Everton were due to pay Tottenham £10m if Alli made 20 Premier League appearances. Tonight is significant because, with seven games to go and Alli in a Sky studio rather than Everton’s squad tonight, it is now impossible that the midfielder will make it to 20 appearances, thus saving Everton a fee that they really can’t afford right now.

Alli’s Everton contract expires in the summer, I really hope he finds another club and gets back to his best. He’s no stranger to the Football League from his MK Dons days, I’m sure there will be clubs out there that are interested. Or maybe even a move abroad.

What an enormous game this is for Everton Football Club. The Toffees sit two points above the relegation zone but face a two-point deduction for for breaching Premier League profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), which essentially means, for a number of different reasons, they are walking on extremely thin ice. Fellow strugglers Brentford and Palace won at the weekend, which probably means that Everton are one of four teams battling to avoid the final two relegation spots.

Tonight’s game at Stamford Bridge comes after the news that Everton’s appeal against their latest points deduction will be heard before the end of the season in an attempt to bring some clarity to any final-day relegation battle.

Chelsea have not beaten Everton at the Bridge since 2021, the year they became champions of Europe for a second time. Doesn’t that feel like a lifetime ago? There is a lot less at stake for Chelsea tonight, although European qualification is not out of reach. Chelsea are six points behind sixth-placed Newcastle with two games in hand. This Chelsea squad is not ready for the Champions League but a Europa League spot would do very nicely indeed. That said, Chelsea’s next four games are: Manchester City (away), Arsenal (away), Aston Villa (away), Tottenham (home). Eeeesh.

This should be a lively one. I’m expecting goals. Plenty of talent on the pitch, but neither side are mad about defending.

Kick-off: 8pm BST.