FA Cup: Everton - Chelsea: Preview, Team News & Lineups Prediction

Chelsea will take on Everton in a late kick-off at Goodison Park on Saturday after their season took a mortal blow at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain during midweek.

The Blues, who now need a miracle to qualify for Champions League football next season via their league position, could travel to Merseyside in rather downcast spirits following their 2-1 loss to the Ligue 1 leaders.

Guus Hiddink's men are currently tenth in the Premier League on 40 points – ten behind fourth-placed Manchester City, who also hold what could be a pivotal game in hand.

Aside from the potential impact of Chelsea's continental woes, Everton have few reasons to be full of confidence ahead of a cup tie in their own backyard.

The Toffees have tasted victory at Goodison just twice in league competition since November and Roberto Martinez must still be fuming after his 12-placed side threw away a two-goal lead to go down 3-2 to West Ham last weekend.

Everton Team News

Martinez will be without defenders Tyias Browning, Tony Hibbert and the suspended Kevin Mirallas for the visit of the reigning champions, while influential stars Aaron Lennon and Tom Cleverly are unlikely to take part.

Gareth Barry is another injury doubt but could still prove his fitness ahead of Saturday's late kick-off.

Everton Starting XI Prediction

Robles | Coleman, Jagielka, Funes Mori, Baines | McCarthy, Barry | Deulofeu, Barkley, Cleverly | Lukaku

Previous Meetings

Chelsea 3-3 Everton (Premier League, January 2016)
Everton 3-1 Chelsea (Premier League, September 2015)
Chelsea 1-0 Everton (Premier League, February 2015)
Everton 3-6 Chelsea (Premier League, August 2014)
Chelsea 1-0 Everton (Premier League, February 2014)
Everton 1-0 Chelsea (Premier League, September 2013)

Score Prediction

It will be intriguing to see how Wednesday evening's Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain affects morale among the Chelsea camp. Although mathematically it seemed a simple equation to ensure victory on aggregate, I doubt many Blues fans fully expected us to overcome the rampaging French side.

It's difficult to imagine our midweek defeat will have no affect on our performance against Everton and although the FA Cup is our last chance of silverware this season, I fear some of our less 'passionate' players could let us down this weekend.

There's no denying our squad contains a few individuals who seemingly choose to give their all if and when it suits them. Unless Hiddink feels he can rally the troops to throw the kitchen sink at Everton, the Dutchman should look to some of our younger talents to preserve the intensity and desire we've shown in recent weeks.

Our hosts have been far from convincing of late, so I expect us to dust ourselves off from the PSG loss and begin our march towards another FA Cup title.

I think we'll go through with a 1-0 win. What are your score predictions?