Chelsea have the chance to wrap up third-place with a win against Everton at Stamford Bridge today and claim an automatic spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
John Terry will be missing from the line-up with an ankle injury and Brazilian midfielder Ramires is suspended, but Rafael Benitez has no fresh injury concerns for our final match of the Premier League season.
Leighton Baines will have played every minute of Everton’s league season if he lasts for the 90 today which takes some doing but Phil Neville has a knee injury and has already played his last game for the club. It’s also David Moyes’ final game as Everton boss before taking over from retiring Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.
Farewells will be the theme today as fans will say goodbye to players and staff with heavy hearts, however, probably not too upset in Benitez’s departure not only because he’s a divisive figure but many fans are already looking forward to the prospect of a Jose Mourinho return.
Paulo Ferreira retires at the end of the season and I really hope he makes it onto the field today, depending on how things are going. If Mourinho is coming back then the veteran fullback could potentially be a valuable member of the coaching team. Florent Malouda should also be given the chance to say goodbye but he’s been in isolation all season and departure has been delayed up until now because the club demanded a fee for a player they did not value.
A few other players will be leaving the club too, with the likes of Ross Turnbull and Yossi Benayoun among them. Perhaps even a few others that are due to be sold over the summer.
I’m confident of a positive result today and we haven’t lost in 30 of our previous 33 games against Everton in all competitions and we finally have some decent home form this season with 8 matches unbeaten, scoring at least 2 goals in 7 of the 8.
It’s going to have that end of season feel about it but I reckon it will be a narrow win for the Blues.
