Everton

Image source, Getty Images

Sean Dyche told BBC Sport that Everton's performance was "really poor" against Chelsea and "miles off the intent and desire needed to win" a match.

"I thought we were mildly better second half but the first half miles off," said the Everton boss. "A collective down day.

"We had one at Villa when we were collectively looking for a spark. You can't give away soft goals like that.

"They were dancing around us - not just the back five but the young lads in midfield too. They will learn if you don't get tackles in and read the play you will get hurt.

"There were too many errors and too many players way off the mark.

"Six big games left. They have had another knock. We have already agreed that's gone and we have to get on with it."

On discovering the appeal against their further two-point deduction will be heard before the end of the season, Dyche added: "It is a relief to football and not just to us.

"We are all scratching our heads anyway but that would have made it worse."

Did you know?

• In his 308th game as a top-flight manager, a Dyche team conceded six goals in a Premier League game for the first time.

• Everton remain winless in their past nine league away games, with Monday's loss their second-biggest margin of defeat in the competition following a 7-0 loss to Arsenal in May 2005.

Image source, Getty Images

Everton were really poor defensively, allowing Chelsea to take the lead with their first attack.

It was a case of what might have been for the Toffees who had gone close themselves minutes earlier but Beto, in for the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin, could not divert Seamus Coleman's low cross on target when just a few yards out.

Beto also had a headed goal disallowed for offside with his side 3-0 down in the first half.

Everton's loss will sting fans even more when coupled with their latest two-point deduction which was announced on Monday, 8 April.

Hours before kick-off the Premier League said the club's appeal will be heard "urgently".

Everton need to halt their stuttering run having only managed one win across their past 15 league games.

And this latest defeat leaves Sean Dyche's side in a precarious position especially with games against Liverpool and Arsenal to come before the end of the season.

They host Nottingham Forest in their next league match on Sunday. A must-win game.

Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer scored four goals, including a hat-trick inside the first 29 minutes, as his side thrashed sorry Everton at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

Palmer opened the scoring in the 13th minute by curling a beautiful strike into the bottom corner after nutmegging Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite and playing a one-two with team-mate Nicolas Jackson.

He doubled the lead five minutes later, heading in a rebound after a Jackson shot had been saved by Everton keeper Jordan Pickford.

And the 21-year-old completed his hat-trick midway through the first half in style after he intercepted a poor pass from Pickford before lobbing the England goalkeeper from 40 yards out.

Jackson then inflicted more doom on Everton just before the break by volleying in Marc Cucurella's cut-back, before Palmer added his fourth from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute.

And Chelsea scored a sixth in the 90th minute when substitute Alfie Gilchrist netted his first goal for the club from a tight angle.

Chelsea stretched their Premier League unbeaten run to eight matches and are three points off seventh-placed Manchester United, who currently sit in the Premier League's last European spot, having played one game fewer.

As for Everton, they were playing in their first match since receiving a two-point deduction for a second breach of Premier League financial rules. They stayed 16th, two points above the relegation zone.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from elsewhere?

Chelsea fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Everton fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

The team news for the Premier League game between Chelsea and Everton is in, with less than an hour to go until kick-off at Stamford Bridge.

Follow all the build-up and live text updates of the match here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on actor and Leyton Orient fan Daniel Mays.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

As usual with Chelsea, I don't have a clue what to go for here.

If you look back at their results then they are on a seven-game unbeaten run in the league, but they have drawn four of those matches because they always seem to shoot themselves in the foot.

Everton beat Mauricio Pochettino's side at Goodison Park in December, but only got their first league win of 2024 last week.

Beating Burnley was massive for them, but they need to follow that up by getting something at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are still a developing team so I am going to go with the Toffees to take a point.

Mays' prediction: 2-1

I bumped into Everton boss Sean Dyche in a restaurant on the South Bank about two weeks ago. He went: 'I know you - you're an actor.' And I went: 'Well, I know you too'. We had our photograph taken together and he was very nice. After what Everton have been through this season, I hope they stay up - but I think Chelsea will win this one.

See the full list of predictions here

Everton are keen on signing 28-year-old Belgium midfielder Leander Dendoncker, who is currently on loan at Napoli, from Aston Villa this summer. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

Image source, PA Media

Prospective new Everton owners 777 Partners have asked for more time to pay off a loan that the Premier League has said is one of the obstacles to completion of their takeover of the club.

A £158m loan to MSP Sports Capital and two local businessmen is due to be repaid next Monday.

While meeting the obligation has not been completely ruled out, the fact 777 have asked for more time, potentially to the end of May, is a clear signal it probably will not be.

Sources have suggested the length of time it is taking the Premier League to rule on 777's bid to buy the club from Farhad Moshiri is one of the reasons for the problem as money that might have gone to MSP has been used for ongoing costs.

It is not entirely clear whether MSP will agree to the extension, although if they did not, it would put Everton's short-term future in peril.

It is estimated they need a further injection of about £60m to meet running costs for the rest of the season. That shortfall will be met by 777 if their attempt to buy Everton is still live. The company has already pumped £160m into the club, although they did so in the belief their takeover would have been done by this point.

Their agreement to buy the club was announced in September. By contrast, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's part-purchase of Manchester United has been passed even though it was only announced on 24 December.

Everton boss Sean Dyche has been speaking to the media before Monday's Premier League game at Chelsea (20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Dyche said Dominic Calvert-Lewin seems to be fine after missing training on Thursday with a hamstring issue that they are "being ultra-careful with". He added that Amadou Onana is back in training and Arnaut Danjuma "should be in our thoughts for going into Monday's squad".

• He gave his response to Everton's second points deduction: "Similar to the last - unexpected in the sense we thought it was dealt with. The club will be looking into an appeal. What's done is done, the league table changes. We're confident that it won't change again this season."

• More on how the team will hope to respond to the two-point deduction: "Front foot feel is old an adage but a fair one. Last time we had a knock everyone pulled together. The badge is more important than anything. The restart is Chelsea, a positive reaction to the news is important. The time for fault and blame has gone, we're past that. What's done is done."

• On the protracted takeover by 777 Holdings, which has still not been completed: "I can only imagine running the football club isn't an easy business. I don't imagine it's a simple process. It's taking more time, that's how it goes. I'm not involved in that side of things. The rest is a wait and see situation."

• On opponents Chelsea: "Mauricio [Pochettino] is someone I've always had respect for. They've had a topsy-turvy season, lots of changes, a change of culture. They're a good outfit and have spent a lot of money as everyone knows. They have quality. We can't rely on anyone but ourselves."

• On the run-in: "The next seven games are about finding a way to win. Players delivered a very fair-minded performance to win a game [last weekend against Burnley]. The players are motivated without a doubt. We got the details right enough."

• On Andre Gomes' return to the side in recent weeks: "It's been hard for him with all the ups and downs with injury. He's been so unlucky. He delivered a very good physical performance [against Burnley]. We know he's got quality, he's put himself right back in the frame going forward. He's a knowledgeable player. There's a calmness about his play."

Follow the rest of Thursday's Premier League news conferences

When you look at Everton's issues with scoring you have to understand they have had a lot of uncertainty.

They were going really well then had a big points deduction. That mean they were looking over their shoulders and wondering what was going to happen next and it has been travelling with the club for such a long period of time.

It is frustrating when you are creating opportunities and not putting them away. But when you look at everything around Everton's situation, it has become really tight with the points deduction.

They have a really good run of games towards the end of the season, they will get what they need but it feels like it is another re-build again. What is next? Will the manager still be there? Then there is the ownership issues too, it is just so much uncertainty. It isn't just the strikers with an issue, it is all around the pitch and the football club where things need to improve.

Why are they having such an issue converting expected goals into actual goals? I just don't think everyone is entirely happy with the situation at the club. They've got attackers in key areas that can get a goal, but when they are creating so much it's surprising they are not getting them.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is not on top of his game right now, he still seems to have the cloud hanging over him around injuries. I know Dyche's assistant manager Ian Woan and he loves crosses and finishing. He had a wonderful left foot and it was one of his favourite sessions out on the training pitch so he will be working with them on their finishing. But sometimes you can just be not in a happy place.

Calvert-Lewin has been at the club for such a long period of time and he might be carrying around a little stigma of the situation and have a bit of pressure weighing on his shoulders. Maybe it does need a bit of support for him or maybe he needs to go play his football somewhere else.

This season

46.57 expected goals v 32 actual goals

Everton - differential: -14.57

*Lowest in Premier League

Here are the key facts and figures before Monday's game between Chelsea and Everton in the Premier League.

• Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 28 Premier League home games against Everton (W15 D13) since a 1-0 loss in November 1994. It is their longest unbeaten home run against a side in their top-flight history.

• Following their 2-0 win at Goodison Park in December, Everton are looking to complete their first league double over Chelsea since 1978-79.

• Chelsea have both scored and conceded at least twice in each of their last seven matches in all competitions. In English football history, no top-flight side has ever done so in eight consecutive games before.

• Everton’s 1-0 win against Burnley last time out ended a 13-game winless run in the Premier League. Each of their last five league wins have been to nil, with the Toffees failing to win any of their last 12 when conceding at least once (D4 L8).

• Cole Palmer has been involved in 25 goals in his last 22 Premier League games, scoring 16 and assisting nine. One more assist would see him become the first Chelsea player to register double figures for both goals and assists in his first Premier League season with the club.

• After a run of 18 Premier League games without a goal, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored in his last two appearances, with these strikes earning Everton three points. He last scored in three consecutive league games in August 2021.

Image source, Getty Images

It is proving a season of challenge at Goodison Park both on and off the pitch.

Changing figures in the points column have proved confusing and emotionally draining, while a long, winless run has tested patience.

One area of struggle continues to be in front of goal, where Sean Dyche's side are posting remarkable numbers in terms of chances passed up.

Expected goals v actual goals

Everton - differential: -14.57

46.57 expected goals v 32 actual goals

Brentford - differential: -6.96

51.96 expected goals v 45 actual goals

Chelsea - differential: -3.28

58.28 expected goals v 55 actual goals

The three clubs listed boast the worst records in the Premier League for scoring the chances they would be expected to put away, but Everton's tally appears extreme.

In contrast, their relegation rivals Luton have scored 6.56 more goals than they would have been expected to from their chances. The Hatters have found the net 45 times from an xG of 38.44.

That positive differential is the fifth best in the Premier League.

Will the numbers swing if Dyche's men start finding the net?

In a season of off-the-field complexity, it is one on-the-field metric that could prove significant.

BBC Sport's Phil McNulty has been answering your questions on all things Premier League.

Gary asked: Phil, do you think opposition fans have been bigging up Jordan Pickford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin over recent seasons to try to trick Everton into holding on to them? I don't rate either, and I hope we haven't run out of time to sell.

Phil answered: Not sure opposition fans have been "bigging up" either.

I do not think Jordan Pickford gets anywhere near the respect and credit he deserves outside Everton and England. He has been outstanding and yet no-one beyond those two spheres appears to realise just how good he has been. Pickford is England's best keeper by a country mile.

If Everton have been tricked into holding on to Pickford (which they have not) it has worked well for them because he has pretty much kept them out of the Championship.

And not sure anyone is "bigging up" Calvert-Lewin because it is so long since he has been a force to be reckoned with having unfortunately suffered so many injury problems.

Image source, Getty Images

Luton Town chief executive Gary Sweet feels Everton's punishment for breaching financial regulations "doesn't fit the crime".

On Monday it was announced the Toffees would be deducted two points for breaking Premier League profit and sustainability rules.

Everton's second points deduction of the season sees them sitting two points and two places above the Hatters, who are in the relegation zone on goal difference.

Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio, Sweet said: "It's quite astonishing really. One of the things that disappoints me is that the independent commission that value the level of the penalty clearly hasn't looked into it too deeply.

"If you look at what clubs do, we spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in data analytics to recruit the right players who are going to give us the goals, give us the points and defend the goals. So we know the value of a goal and the value of a point in monetary terms.

"If we know then it is not beyond the wit of man with such important decisions like this for an independent party to come up with that kind of data analysis to value an overspend amount and convert to points - and it is never two. It is much higher than two.

"From that perspective [I am] really disappointed that it is that little. The punishment simply doesn't fit the crime and ultimately what that means is it doesn’t become a deterrent."

Nottingham Forest - who are level on points with Luton - were also docked four points for financial breaches. Both they and Everton are in appeal processes.

"If you look at the Forest four [points] - which I was also disappointed with - two points off for co-operating is ridiculous," added Sweet. "You should have had two points added if you didn't co-operate - it should have been six.

"This is Everton's second time, albeit a smaller level - so it should certainly be a greater amount, but it is not for me to say how many that should be.

"As a club that has gone through a 30-point deduction for something I see as relatively less, then it is somewhere between the two. It has to be a punishment level that is a real deterrent."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Everton have had another two points taken off them. It is painful, losing 10, getting four back and then losing another two.

This entire story has felt like a shambles on all sides.

As the rules change - and they most certainly will radically again - will teams who fall foul in future suffer the same extreme punishments?

I doubt it, which will mean and feel like Everton, and to a degree Nottingham Forest, will have been singled out for especially egregious treatment.

I hope this is now over, but I suspect the more that rules are being made and then judged by people with no feel for or love of the game, the more ludicrous and unfair the future of the game will be.

The Premier League is a fantastic product that the world loves, despite - not because of - what the game's controllers are currently doing.

PS: I know I am biased as an Evertonian, but I would feel the same if it happened to Liverpool, Manchester United or Tottenham.

Pat Nevin was writing for the BBC Football Extra newsletter

Image source, Getty Images

Everton's deduction of six points for the three-year period to 2021-22 was for losses of £19.5m over the £105m permitted threshold, while Nottingham Forest were deducted four points for breaching the permitted £61m threshold by £34.5m for the three-year period to 2022-23.

The Toffees argued at the hearing that this is unfair and Forest had breached the threshold by significantly more - 56.6% in one reporting period - compared with their cumulative total of 34% (£36.1m) over the two reporting periods.

The independent commission says Forest's sanction was originally set at six points but two points were credited for "early admission and exceptional cooperation" with the process, which the Premier League said Everton did not do.

The commission added that the decision made in Everton's case is "broadly consistent" with the one made in the Forest case, saying Everton's punishment is "justifiably higher" because they had exceeded the threshold in two consecutive financial years.

With that in mind, the commission says it "does not regard" Everton's second points deduction to be "excessive, unfair to Everton or disproportionate" in comparison with the Forest decision.

Meanwhile, the Blues said in a statement that the club is "extremely concerned" at the "inconsistency" of the punishments, with four different commissions issuing four different points deductions this season.

Read more on the points deduction here