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Chelsea eye home record as Everton dream of Europe

May 12th, 2007

LONDON, May 12, 2007 (AFP) – Chelsea always hoped the final act of their season would be decisive, but Jose Mourinho could never have imagined that it would be Everton sweating on the result of Sunday’s Premiership match at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues manager had planned to stage the final charge of his title tilt against David Moyes’ side, aiming to overtake Manchester United on the home straight and claim a third consecutive league crown. Instead, he finds himself retreating into the wings as Everton, who need a point to be certain of a place in next season’s UEFA Cup, march on to centre-stage.

Chelsea’s challenge was thwarted last weekend when their failure to beat Arsenal, combined with United’s victory over Manchester City, allowed Sir Alex Ferguson to open up an unassailable lead at the top of the table.

Mourinho now has just the FA Cup to play for and the Portuguese manager will make sweeping changes to his regular starting line-up as he seeks to end a disappointing season on a high at Wembley next week.

Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Andriy Shevchenko are already ruled out, while Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard are all likely to be rested on Sunday.

It is telling that Mourinho has claimed Chelsea’s biggest motivation for Sunday’s match is the preservation of a remarkable unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge, which currently stands at 62 matches. A win or a draw on Sunday, and the Londoners will match Liverpool’s top flight record of 63.

“We have an objective for this game,” Mourinho said. “The objective must belong to the whole of Stamford Bridge because it will be magnificent if we can finish three whole seasons without a defeat at home. “It is the only thing in the Premiership we have left to fight for. “I can’t say at Chelsea we have an incredible atmosphere at home because that is not the culture of our crowd. But there is a big relation between our crowd and the players. “The players feel comfortable at home and they feel always supported and I think result after result brings that confidence. We play always to win at home, no doubts about it, and at home we are always dominant.”

Everton, meanwhile, can reflect with huge satisfaction on another season of progress under Moyes. The Merseysiders have remained ensconced in the top eight for virtually the entire season, despite operating with one of the Premiership’s smallest squads, and UEFA Cup qualification would be a fitting reward.

Only a calamitous set of results will see Everton squeezed out at this late stage. The Toffees will only be denied a top-seven finish if they are crushed by a huge scoreline in west London and Reading chalk up a resounding victory at ninth-placed Blackburn Rovers. Given the likelihood of that scenario, Moyes must be tempted to open the champagne 24 hours early.

The only cloud on Moyes’ horizon is speculation surrounding the future of Mikael Arteta. The Spanish midfielder has had an excellent season at Goodison Park and has been linked with a move back to his home country, rumours strenuously denied by his manager.

“None of the clubs in Spain have got enough money to even go near him,” Moyes insisted. “The talks have not taken place yet but they are due to take place. “Mikel has three years of his contract to go but we want to reward him because he has done very well for us and Mikel knows we will get down to that in the next week or so.”

Entry Filed under: Sports News & Results