How Chelsea could line up against Everton

Chelsea make the trip to Merseyside to face Everton at the weekend having returned to winning ways in the Premier League.

After successive defeats to Manchester City and West Ham United respectively, Frank Lampard watched his side record a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

However, while the Blues boss talked up the performance of his team after the match, he is likely to make changes against the Toffees due to the club's important Champions League encounter against Lille being scheduled for three days later.

Here, Sports Mole predicts how the west Londoners may line up for the fixture at Goodison Park.

Out: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles) Doubtful: Antonio Rudiger (groin), Ross Barkley (ill)

Having featured in Lampard's last nine starting lineups, Christian Pulisic may be provided with a rest against Everton, which would provide Callum Hudson-Odoi with a chance to come back into the side.

Mateo Kovacic has also been a constant fixture in the team, and Lampard's decision to drop Jorginho to the substitutes' bench against Villa may have been with the intention to hand the Croatian a similar break this weekend.

While both Cesar Azpilicueta and Emerson Palmieri have found themselves in and out of the fold of late, the pair could start in the full-back positions, with Reece James featuring among the replacements.

Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori are fighting for one place in the centre of defence, although it would come as a surprise if the former does not retain his spot alongside Kurt Zouma.

Providing that he has fully recovered from a hip problem, Tammy Abraham should keep his place in the starting lineup, which would leave Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud to sit on the bench.

After being ill earlier this week, former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley could return to the squad for the first time since October 19.