Premier League 2019/20: Everton vs Chelsea – tactical analysis

The Premier League was back after the midweek fixtures. The clash between Everton and Chelsea was an intriguing one, as the Toffees sacked Marco Silva after the huge loss in the Merseyside derby. They dropped to the relegation zone before the game. Despite several rumours on the new manager candidates, Duncan Ferguson became the caretaker manager of the team.

Chelsea had a good run in the past two months, they bounced back with a 2-1 victory against Aston Villa in the midweek. Frank Lampard transformed Chelsea into an attacking team, and they looked for a win to consolidate their Champions League qualification spot.

In this tactical analysis, we will show you the tactics of Everton and Chelsea, and how did the Toffees bounce back at the Goodison Park.

Lineups

Ferguson abandoned the formation of Silva, he shifted the formation of the team into a 4-4-2 shape. There were limited choices for the back four, which formed by Lucas Digne, Mason Holgate, Michael Keane and Djibril Sidibé. For the midfielders, Gylfi Sigurðsson and Morgan Schneiderlin partnered at the centre of the pitch. Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott were the wingers. Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin started together upfront.

Lampard made some changes to his squad, they played in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Andreas Christensen was given a chance to partnered with Kurt Zouma, as Fikayo Tomori was rested on the bench. Emerson was on the bench as César Azpilicueta played as a left-back.

Everton’s defence

In the first part of the analysis, we investigated the defence of Everton. Before the match, the Everton defence was vulnerable, they had conceded 27 already in the league. However, their defence in the first half was solid that Chelsea only got one shot on target; they limited Chelsea at an xG of 0.24 in the first half. In general, they defended with a 4-4-2 midblock. Ferguson did not plan to defend passively, he tried to increase the tempo of the game by ordering his players to press intensively. Chelsea were difficult to break the press and get into the final third if they insisted to play out from the back.

The Everton press was flexible as they had to adjust themselves due to the build-up structure of Chelsea. In the Chelsea build-up, Azpilicueta usually stayed in an advanced position, while Reece James positioned himself deeper alongside with the centre backs. Both pivots stayed in front of these three defenders to provide another line of options. Therefore, Everton wingers stepped out very early to press the full-backs, especially Iwobi on James; Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin took care of the centre backs; For the Chelsea pivots behind, usually one of the Everton central midfielders would step up to join the press.