Chelsea

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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Here are some of your replies:

Chelsea fans

Baz: That was a more determined performance from the Blues. To hold on to a 1-0 lead for that long, and then fight through a determined last 20 minutes from Everton, was surprising. It has left me delighted. We look so much better when we thrust at opponents, rather than this slow build-up and possession style that is one poor pass and counter-attack away from catastrophe. The Premier League has few easy games but a win was a must. We need to show the same doggedness against better opposition and further raise our game. The Champions League remains a possibility.

Gary: Poor performance from Chelsea. They got a win but their ability in front of goal is appalling! We need a striker who can control the ball and bring other players into the game. Nicolas Jackson is not that player.

Paul: Like petulant children, Madueke and Jackson were an embarrassment to Chelsea football club in the second half. Sad days indeed.

Jak: Papering over the cracks - we just about saw off a strangely passive Everton team. Enzo Maresca is a fraud who is way out of his depth and is squandering the talent at his disposal. In a poor Premier League season, we should have coasted to at least fourth place, but we will ultimately miss out on Champions League qualification due to his ineptitude.

Everton fans

Dave: Unfortunately we are too slow in midfield to compete with the top teams. We employ wide men yet we continue to pass through the midfield and get pickpocketed every time. A major clearout is needed to begin the 2025-26 season at our new ground.

Chris: Sadly yet another mistake cost us the game. A draw would have been a fairer result, although that would have been our 15th of the season. They won the first half but we won the second half, even though we failed to score. Moyes has done well but we need to convert draws to wins and 1-0 losses to draws. We lack quality, and fighting spirit is not always enough. Let's go for maximum points from our last games.

Peter: Everton are on the beach, just as Moyes feared. The creativity, work rate, control and finishing have all gone on holiday. It was like an old Sean Dyche set-up.

Greg: Moyes persists with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jack Harrison but neither give us anything. Carlos Alcaraz has to start and Dwight McNeil. Surely Moyes knows what he needs and, with the exception of Idrissa Gueye and Alcaraz, the rest of the out-of-contract or loan players can go.

Chelsea are pushing hard to seal the signing of Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz, 19, but face competition from Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City for the Turkey international. (Caught Offside, external)

Meanwhile Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle United, West Ham, Liverpool and Manchester United are all interested in signing Canada striker Jonathan David, 25, when his Lille contract expires in the summer - but Marseille are hoping to persuade the player to stay in France. (RMC Sport, via Get Football News France, external)

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Mark Chapman presents highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures, which saw Ipswich Town's relegation from the top-flight confirmed.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentary from Newcastle United 3-0 Ipswich Town on BBC Sounds.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Chelsea may have stumbled upon their best starting XI in their 1-0 win at home to Everton.

The crucial change was the addition of midfielder Romeo Lavia, as captain Reece James dropped to the bench, with Moises Caicedo moving to right-back but still stepping into the middle when Chelsea had possession.

Lavia was making his first start in over a month but he was excellent until he had to come off in the 67th minute, which seemed to coincide with a late push from David Moyes' side for an equaliser.

After the match, Enzo Maresca praised the midfielder: "When he is fit, he is one of the best midfielders. He can defend very well, he can attack, he can break the line and pass between the lines.

"I spent one entire season with Romeo when I was Under-23 coach at Manchester City, so I know him very well. For us, it was like Reece James. They are both top players.

"The only shame for us is that unfortunately we need to manage them. We need to protect them, but there is no doubt that Chelsea with Reece and Romeo is a better team."

Striker Nicolas Jackson's ended a 13-game goal drought with a powerful shot from the edge of the box in the 27th minute, which also seemed to lift his performance level.

However, Cole Palmer's similar goalless run now stands at 17 matches and his performance declined.

When asked about the pair after the match, Maresca defended Palmer by adding: "We said many times that we don't have doubt with the ones that, for part of the season, have struggled a little bit, like Nico and Cole and Robert [Sanchez].

"Nico finally found the goal today, hopefully Cole can score goals soon but I think his performance was very good."

But Palmer's statistics will be a cause for concern because he was involved in no attacking actions, apart from three crosses, two successful dribbles and a single touch in the opposition box.

Maresca had said before kick-off that the issue with Palmer was a "mental thing" rather than "tactical or technical".

Chelsea jumped up to fourth in the Premier League table and have Champions League qualification in their hands - albeit with a difficult run of fixtures against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest to end the season.

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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day about the vital win: "It is important to take things game-by-game and control the emotions. At the end of the season, we will see."

On not getting the second goal: "It has happened a lot this season, where we have not scored goals to kill the game. In the second half, we dropped a little bit but overall we deserved to win."

On Nicolas Jackson scoring his first goal since December: "He needs that. Cole [Palmer] needs that too - and I have no doubt Cole will do the same soon."

On goalkeeper Robert Sanchez: "He made big saves. He deserves the support from us and the club. We are here for Robert."

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "I had a lot of fun being back in the team and helping to get a big win.

"Everton improved in the second half, but that is football. Everyone has their good times."

On Nicolas Jackson's goal being his first from outside the area: "He may not have done it in the Premier League, but I have seen him do it loads in training - so I'm not surprised. I'm really happy for him."

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last 30 Premier League games against Everton, since a 1-0 loss in November 1994 (W17 D13). It is the Blues' longest unbeaten streak at home against an opponent in their league history.

Nicolas Jackson's goal was the first Chelsea have scored in the first half of a Premier League game in seven outings, bringing an end to what was their longest first-half goal drought in the competition since February-March 2012.

It was also Jackson's first goal in 13 Premier League appearances, ending his longest drought in the competition.

Were you at Stamford Bridge or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Chelsea's performance

What did you make of Everton's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Five matches make up Saturday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Chelsea v Everton (12:30)

• Brighton v West Ham

• Newcastle v Ipswich - BBC Radio 5 Live commentary

• Southampton v Fulham

• Wolves v Leicester

All kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

In June 2004, Jose Mourinho made headlines around the world by claiming "I think I'm a special one" at his unveiling as Chelsea manager.

Just under a year later, he lifted the Premier League trophy, delivering the Blues their first league title in 50 years.

Robert Huth, who was part of the Chelsea defence that conceded only 15 goals in the league that season, joins Mark Chapman, Chris Sutton and Rory Smith 20 years later to reflect on an incredible achievement.

From Mourinho's management style to his rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson, the podcast looks back on the Portuguese's influence on modern football.

Hear from former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele and Sir Alex as Football Daily goes back to a year when Mourinho almost did the domestic Treble.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds now

The worry for Everton is James Tarkowski is out for the season with the hamstring injury he sustained against Manchester City.

That is a massive blow for them at the back, because they did not look the same team defensively once he went off.

Everton are without striker Armando Broja too, because he is on loan from Chelsea and cannot face his parent club, but I feel like he has kind of been on trial in the past couple of games anyway.

David Moyes has been having a look at Broja, probably to weigh up whether or not to sign him permanently in the summer, but Everton are probably better off with Beto leading their attack.

He will be a threat running in behind when they try to break forward, and Abdoulaye Doucoure will get up there too in support.

They might get some joy here because while Chelsea are still in the mix for the top five after their fightback to beat Fulham, things are clearly still not right with them.

An element of their fans are just not having Enzo Maresca and his style of play, and it will be interesting to see how the Stamford Bridge crowd react if things don't go to plan on Saturday.

I am really not convinced by Chelsea's attack at the moment, especially with Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson so out of form. Even with Tarkowski missing, they could struggle to break Everton down.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has says this season is "not a failure" compared with the previous two campaigns.

The Blues finished 12th and sixth in their previous two campaigns - the first full seasons under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, during which there has been significant turnover both of players and managers.

They currently sit sixth - two points behind Newcastle in the final Champions League qualification spot in fifth.

"Compared with the past two years, it [the season] is not a failure," said Maresca.

"How many times in the past two years have Chelsea been in the Champions League [places]? And this season we have been there almost all season. It's an improvement or not? It's already an improvement."

Chelsea were in second place - two points behind leaders Liverpool - and being spoken about as potential champions in December, but suffered a prolonged dip in form at the start of 2025.

However, Maresca believes progress has been made and accused external figures of failing to recognise it.

"Compared with the last two years, it's quite clear there is an improvement," he added.

"If you want to see it, you see it. If you don't want to see it, you don't see it. Depends which way [you look]. I see it.

"We have the obligation to bring this club to where it belongs. The results have been there. Me as a manager, the club, we all have ambition. I think we are going in the right direction and hopefully we can be there very soon."

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Everton at Stamford Bridge (12:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Maresca confirmed Malo Gusto will not be available after being substituted in last weekend's win at Fulham but it "does not look like an important injury" and the right-back will "hopefully he will be available for the next game".

• He added striker Marc Guiu is still out but is hopefully "one week to two weeks" away from returning, while young defender Aaron Anselmino remains sidelined.

• On Romeo Lavia, who has recently returned to the first team after injury: "He was on the bench against Fulham. He is back and training with us. With Romeo, we will try the same thing we are trying with Reece James. We know we need to use them step by step."

• Maresca was asked about fan frustration at recent inconsistent form: "I can understand it. We are trying to keep them happy. The fans are the same. They were thinking Chelsea is back and showing they are happy. Now we are not winning the same amount of games, they are showing they are not happy."

• More on the club's current state: "As a manager, the club, we all have a vision. We are in the right direction. Hopefully we can be there very soon. Our target is the Champions League. We are going to try to finish in the right way. I said many times, the players are working hard every day to bring this club to where it has to be. The journey has just started."

• On Christopher Nkunku, who was left out of the squad last weekend: "He's in the squad. He has been good. He's training well. In this moment, if he's in the squad, one offensive player has to be out. That's probably Ty [George]. We decided. Malo is out, so we can bring in another one. Any decision I take is for the best of the club. I know Christo cost a lot and Ty is from the academy. I am here to take these kind of decisions."

• He reflected on his first 50 games in charge: "Personally, very happy. I have learned many things. To play every three days, in different competitions, has been a journey of learning. We had some bad moments, some good moments. We are just at the beginning of the vision."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Only against Brighton (four) has Chelsea's Cole Palmer scored more Premier League goals than he has against Everton (four), with all four against the Toffees coming in this exact fixture last season.

However, Palmer is without a goal in his past 11 league appearances.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked you to tell us one thing - good or bad - that is currently going under the radar at Chelsea.

Here are some of your comments:

Will: The fact we haven't won a domestic trophy since 2018. For a club like us, you would think we were in a parallel universe. Seven years. Yes, that's right - seven years...

Don: The dropping of Christopher Nkunku for 'technical reasons'. Has Enzo Maresca finally lost patience with him and have we seen him in a Chelsea shirt for the final time? Maybe not, but his Premier League form has been underwhelming. The last time he really affected a game was at Bournemouth away a few months ago. His Conference League form has been average, but his penalty miss against Legia Warsaw sums up where he is right now.

John: The loan players that are due to return, such as Axel Disasti (that's a deliberate misspelling), Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix. We still have a bloated squad that is lacking in desire to play for the shirt.

Eoin: What is going on with Mykhailo Mudryk? There has been no mention of him since his initial denial of any wrongdoing.

Joe: Estevao Willian coming in this summer. It will be interesting to see how he fits in.

Nick: I think the future looks incredibly bright. When you look at the age profile of the team, this squad should be coming into its best patch in two to three years and hopefully the playing style will have settled by then as well. They could dominate the league in the future.

Peter: Stamford Bridge, although it is our home, is a shoddy old dump. We need a new stadium with a capacity for 75,000-plus supporters. If that means leaving Stamford Bridge, then so be it. We need to invest £2bn in a multi-purpose modern stadium.

Chelsea are battling Manchester United and Real Madrid for the signature of River Plate's 17-year-old Argentine midfielder Franco Mastantuono, who has a release clause of £38m. (Mail), external

Meanwhile, Blues forward Joao Felix, who is currently on loan at AC Milan, has begun talks over a return to his former club Benfica in the summer. (CaughtOffside), external

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