Premier League: Everton v Chelsea - Chelsea Must Win
April 17, 2008 by CLDsport
The rearranged match between Everton and Chelsea tonight has already caused a stir. Chelsea are extremely unhappy that the match has been bought forward to tonight - especially as they had to play Wigan on Monday evening.
Why has the match been rearranged? Not due to fixture congestion, but TV rights. Sky wanted to show the match live and have forced the match to be moved forward.
Is TV ruining the game? We already have 12.15 and 5.15pm kick offs on a Saturday, along with games on Sunday and Monday. But, this week it seems we have sunk to a new low with a Thursday night game.
Chelsea make a good point when they accuse Sky and the Premier League of making a move that ‘undermines the sporting integrity of the competition’. Forcing Chelsea to play 2 games in 72 hours at such a crucial stage surely is undermining the integrity. Surely this move could change the final league positions?
Undoubtedly Chelsea do have a large squad. But, with such an important final few fixtures Avram Grant will surely want to use his strongest 11 in each of them.
As a result of their unhappiness, Chelsea are offering free tickets to their fans for tonight’s match. They state that ‘under these circumstances Chelsea believes it would be inappropriate to profit from the television fee for this match as per normal.’ Chelsea are also offering to pay for the fans travel to Goodison Park.
With all that said, tonight’s match is a MUST WIN fixture for Chelsea. As things stand they are 5 points behind Man Utd with 4 games remaining following Monday’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Wigan. As previously mentioned here at CLDsport, Man U have a far superior goal difference. So, if Chelsea are going to win the Premiership they are going to have to do it on points. To do this they are going to have to beat Manchester United on the 26th April AND hope that Man U slip up in one of their remaining fixtures (Blackburn and Wigan away, and West Ham at home).
Man Utd have one hand on the Premiership title, and it’s theirs to throw away. But, Chelsea are still in it. There is a lot riding on the final few fixtures - especially Chelsea v Man Utd on the 26th.
Latest team news suggests that Chelsea will be travelling to Goodison without Frank Lamaprd or Didier Drogba.
Any thoughts on tonight’s match? Or the controversial fixture change?
Team News;
Everton
Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott, Neville, Carsley, Fernandes, Pienaar, Johnson, Yakubu
Substitutes
Wessels, Baines, Gravesen, Anichebe, Rodwell
Chelsea
Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Wright-Phillips, Obi, Essien, J Cole, Anelka, 21 Kalou
Substitutes
Hilario, Makelele, Shevchenko, Malouda, Alex
Ref: Martin Atkinson
Highlights from ESPN…..