Everton line-ups for Chelsea as Andre Gomes benched and midfield revamped

Joe Thomas - Onana, Harrison and Gueye all to return

Everton have to go into tonight believing a good result is possible. Chelsea are full of individual talent but remain lesser than the sum of their parts and failed to beat Sheffield United last time out at Stamford Bridge.

Sean Dyche and Co, who earned a draw at Chelsea last season, must take encouragement from that. Mauricio Pochettino's men do have the ability to punish teams so while I want Everton to be assertive and aggressive tonight, I don’t want them to be naive. They don’t have the firepower to blow teams away and the best tactic might be to be stubborn, frustrate the hosts and take advantage as the patience wanes.

More than anything, I would like to see the players who are most likely to cause problems on the pitch from the start. That means the return of Amadou Onana and Jack Harrison and the continuation of Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the starting line-up. Harrison has struggled recently but has the guile to cause problems and, with Seamus Coleman offering a safe pair of hands behind him, starting Ashley Young would be too defensive for me. I think Onana has the ability to be a difference in defence and attack and while tactics limit his ability to control a game, I think the Blues need someone in the middle who will disrupt Chelsea’s expensively assembled midfield.

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Calvert-Lewin has two in two and, while both came in intriguing circumstances, he is the player in the squad who I would want the big chance to fall too.

Idrissa Gueye also comes in for me - meaning James Garner and Andre Gomes drop out. Hopefully Onana and Gueye can give Abdoulaye Doucoure the platform to be the agent of chaos that was so useful this time last season.

My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Onana, Doucoure, Gueye, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin.

Chris Beesley - Midfield revamped after returns

Although they completed a hat-trick of victories in London last autumn against Brentford, West Ham United and Crystal Palace, Everton are looking to end almost three decades of ‘capital punishment’ at Chelsea after finally putting to bed their longest ever winless streak in the Premier League against Burnley last time out.

While they did enjoy a penalty shoot-out success at the ground in an FA Cup fourth-round replay in 2011, Everton haven’t picked up three points at Stamford Bridge since Paul Rideout’s header there gave them a 1-0 triumph in Joe Royle’s first away game in charge on November 26, 1994. So who should feature as the Blues look to end this lengthiest of droughts?

After ending his own barren run of 23 games without scoring, hopefully Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fit enough to lead the line again after netting in both of the last two matches as manager Sean Dyche said he was “hopeful” of his number nine being fit to play despite concern over a hamstring issue that ensured staff were being “ultra-careful” with him. This big call for Everton seemingly comes in the centre of the park.

Both Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye are available again after missing the 1-0 victory over the Clarets and I’d stick them both back in. Onana produced an impressive display when coming on as a half-time substitute in the reverse fixture at Goodison Park and can give Everton’s midfield a different dimension in this game.

I’d beef things up in the engine room by putting him and Gueye alongside each other while sticking James Garner wide right to give the midfield a steelier but also more dynamic edge against Mauricio Pochettino’s young charges. That means that Andre Gomes and Ashley Young drop to the bench given they can’t run as much.

My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye, Onana, Doucoure, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin.