Paul Merson predicts a thrashing of Everton vs. Chelsea and gives a’shocked’ verdict on Pochettino.

Chelsea face Everton on Sunday, with the opportunity to quickly rebound from their loss to Manchester United earlier this week. The Blues were miles behind Erik ten Hag’s side at Old Trafford this past Wednesday and were made to pay with a Scott McTominay double earning the hosts a deserving three points.

Cole Palmer scored his first Chelsea goal from open play with a stunning left-footed finish, but that moment of brilliance was in vain. Pochettino was left upset by a number of things following the encounter, with the Chelsea manager admitting his team deserved nothing from the game.

“Disappointed because we didn’t start the game well, and the feeling is they start better than us, more energy than us, and we didn’t match their energy,” he told reporters after the game. “I believe they were superior. In terms of overall performance, I believe they outperformed us. Today is a blank slate. I believe we created enough chances; we drew the first half 1-1, we had several decent chances to score and be more clinical; that was the issue. We start well in the second half, but then we surrender, and we lose the energy to be more aggressive.

“We had some chances, but not enough to get back into the game.” Overall, I believe they were superior to us and deserved the three points.” Given the frantic December schedule, Chelsea only has a few days before returning to action, however they face another challenging test against Everton at Goodison Park.

Sean Dyche’s side has won back-to-back games in the previous five days, defeating Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, which may explain why Paul Merson has gone against backing the club he supports while making Premier League predictions.

“Everton are a much better team away from home, but I believe they will beat Chelsea this time,” he predicted in his Sportskeeda column. “Mauricio Pochettino’s side are missing something, but I’m not sure what it is.” They played well against Manchester City but were completely outclassed by Newcastle, especially in the second half.

“Manchester United also beat them, so it hasn’t been an easy few weeks for Chelsea.” I’ve never seen such a high-quality side give the ball away as frequently as Chelsea did against Manchester United, so things aren’t looking good for them right now.

“I would be surprised if Chelsea won this game.” Everton creates plenty of chances, but they don’t convert many of them. However, I believe they will do enough this weekend to secure an easy victory.”

Chelsea 3-1 Everton Prediction