Chelsea defender Chalobah urges unity amid winless run

Trevoh Chalobah has urged his Chelsea team-mates to stick together after their winless run continued against Atalanta in the Champions League.

The Blues lost 2-1 to the Serie A outfit despite taking the lead through Joao Pedro, with Charles De Ketelaere scoring the winner after assisting Gianluca Scamacca’s leveller.

Enzo Maresca’s side have now failed to win any of their last four games in all competitions, including their last three Premier League fixtures.

Chelsea host Everton, who are just a point behind them in the league, on Saturday, and Chalobah believes the Blues must make the most of that opportunity to gain some confidence.

“We’re obviously down and disappointed. It is three points lost,” said Chalobah after their defeat to Atalanta.

“They didn’t really create us too many problems, and it is important when it is 1-0, in the first ten to 15 minutes of the second half to stay in the game and give yourself the best opportunity to win.

“They scored and it put us on the back foot, and in the second half we didn’t really get going and didn’t get control.

“We have to stick together. It is easy to be together when you are winning but these are the times when you need to come together as a team.

“We have been in this situation before, every team has, so we need to focus on the next game, and it is another opportunity to get a result.”

Everton have won four of their last five Premier League matches, keeping a clean sheet in each victory.

Since David Moyes’ first game back in charge on 15 January earlier this year, only Manchester City (13), Arsenal (13) and Chelsea (11) have more Premier League victories without conceding than the Toffees (10).

Former Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is optimistic about the rest of this season.

After their 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, Dewsbury-Hall said: “I think, apart from the blip against Newcastle [United, a 4-1 loss], it feels like we're playing some good stuff and we're really clicking.

“It's been a great week – two wins, two clean sheets, so you can't ask for much more.

“I came to Everton for a reason. I saw something that looked pretty special to me. It's a nice project and I'm glad that it's starting to feel this good now.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chelsea – Robert Sanchez

Goalkeeper Sanchez played a crucial role in helping Chelsea avoid defeat in their goalless draw with Bournemouth last time out, making five saves against the Cherries.

Only David Raya (eight) has kept more clean sheets than Sanchez (seven) in the Premier League this season.

Everton – Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

Dewsbury-Hall is Everton's joint leading Premier League scorer this season with four goals.

He has netted three goals in his last four games, as many as he'd scored in his previous 62 combined for Leicester, Chelsea and the Toffees.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 30 Premier League home games against Everton (W17 D13).

It’s their longest unbeaten home run against an opponent in their league history, while only at Leeds United have Everton had a longer run without a win (36 from 1953 to 2001).

Everton have also failed to score in 27 different Premier League games against Chelsea, including each of the last three in a row. Only against Manchester United and Liverpool (28 each) have they drawn a blank more often.

However, Everton have won their previous two away matches in the league, last having a longer away winning run between October and December in 2023 (four).

Their last two away wins have both been 1-0; the Toffees have not won three on the trot without conceding since December 2008.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have dropped more points from winning positions in Premier League home games than any other side this season (eight), drawing 1-1 with Arsenal having scored first last time out.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Chelsea – 56.8%

Draw – 22.4%

Everton – 20.8%