Chelsea vs Everton Betting tips

Chelsea were given a real fight by Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, but emerged with a 1-0 victory, cutting Man Utd's lead at the Premiership summit to five points. The Blues could further eat into that deficit, if only for an hour or so, by beating Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.On both occasions that Jose Mourinho's men visited the Toffees' lair last term they had to settle for a share of the spoils - once in the Premiership and when they met in an FA Cup tie. But in each of the previous three seasons, Chelsea well and truly had their measure. In all competitions, home and away, they have beaten Everton eight times in their last 13 encounters.With the exception of Joe Cole, the reigning champs have a full squad to choose from. Conversely, David Moyes has had a torrid time of it lately - Tim Cahill, Tony Hibbert, Alessandro Pistone, Paddy Boyle and Gary Naysmith are all injured, while Leon Osman, Mikel Arteta and Phil Neville have all been nursing niggling problems.Moyes will be hopeful that the last-named trio will be back in the mix for Sunday's match - he certainly needs them. A strong midfield line is needed to counter the likes of Ballack, Essien, Lampard and Makelele. Indeed, Chelsea's midfield quartet is what makes them so hard to beat, and if the Merseyside club have to field a second choice midfield that would be a serious handicap.Everton come into this match on the back of a 2-0 defeat away to Portsmouth, and their form on rival turf has been rather poor during the current campaign. However, they have a sound record at Goodison where they've won five, drawn two and lost just one of their eight Premiership matches this term. They've won three of their last four at home, conceding just once in the process.The Toffees will be buoyed by this, and in the knowledge that Chelsea can be beaten away from 'The Bridge'. The Blues have suffered two reverses on rival soil this season, against Boro and Spurs, so there is hope. But they have won five out of eight away in the league overall, therefore it's conceivable to think that they merely had off days at the Riverside and White Hart Lane.In their last five away Premiership fixtures, Chelsea have scored just six times, winning three of the games in question, drawing once and losing once. All of their recent performances have produced scorelines which hint at a workmanlike victory rather than one-way traffic recently, but this is especially true where their away games are concerned.Chelsea seem to gather momentum as their matches progress, as was the case when they beat Newcastle in midweek. It's almost as if they allow teams to gain confidence before wave after wave of blue attacks, which cause the opposition to buckle under intense pressure. Everton will offer stern resistance - and Andy Johnson will gibe John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho something to think about - but the visitors will probably prove too strong in the end.Verdict - 2pts 0-1 in the total goals market @ 2/1 (bet365)