Diego
Costa’s injury is a big blow for Chelsea – and it’s a shame we won’t see
what he can do in this tough game for the Blues.
Chelsea lost at Everton last season when they weren’t at their best and
missed a lot of chances, so this fixture is the sort of match they recruited
Costa for.
It seems that, at best, the Spain international will only make the bench and
Everton’s defence will be pleased to see him sidelined.
Costa has already shown glimpses of what he can bring to Jose Mourinho’s
team. He scored against Leicester when Chelsea were going nowhere fast and
at Burnley he got them back into the equation after Scott Arfield’s surprise
opener.
But this injury he has is a worry. Costa had a problem with his hamstring at
the end of last season and only managed a few minutes in the Champions
League final for Atletico Madrid, while he didn’t look fit to me when he was
playing for Spain in the World Cup. And now he’s got a hamstring issue
again.
We’ve seen in the past how hamstring injuries can affect players and if
Costa keeps pulling his hamstring it will start to affect him mentally,
affect how he runs and he won’t trust himself to explode into a sprint.
It could become a long-term problem – but obviously Chelsea will hope that’s
not the case because he’s made a difference to their team.
Fernando Torres is in talks with AC Milan so he might be out of the frame to
play in Costa's place – although he probably wouldn’t be the answer anyway –
and that means Didier Drogba could be set for a start.
I’m sure he didn’t imagine that happening just three games into the season
after returning to Chelsea in the summer!
Drogba scored a great dipping volley at Goodison Park a few years ago and it
will be interesting to see how he gets on if he is selected.
Fired up
I’m also looking forward to seeing what Romelu Lukaku does. There’s no love
lost between the Everton forward and his former manager Mourinho and I’m
sure he’ll be fired up to do well against his old team.
Lukaku up against John Terry and Gary Cahill will certainly be worth
watching on Saturday night!
Meanwhile, Steven Naismith has been a real unsung hero for Everton so far
this season. He got the winning goal in this fixture last year and has been
involved in a lot of the good things Everton have done this term.
I’d be surprised if Samuel Eto’o – another player who has had his run-ins
with Mourinho in the past – makes his Everton debut but the key could be at
the other end of the field.
Concern
Everton have conceded four in their first two and, although the goals
they’ve let in wouldn’t necessarily concern me, the fact they have
surrendered a lead three times in two Premier League games this season is a
worry.
Everton were 1-0 and 2-1 up at Leicester and two goals to the good against
Arsenal last weekend before being pegged back. That can become a bad habit
and they need to find a way of shutting games out in those situations.
I think they might concede a couple more this weekend, though – I’m
predicting a tight 2-1 win for Chelsea.
Before Costa got injured I was thinking this was a banker for Chelsea but it
has become a lot tougher now he’s out.
I’m still going for a Chelsea win – the likes of Cesc Fabregas have been
fantastic for them so far – but I expect Roberto Martinez and Everton to
make life difficult for them.
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