Just days after the climactic events at Wembley Stadium where they booked a place in the FA Cup Final, Everton have to quickly come down from Cloud 9 and prepare for a particularly tricky away game at Stamford Bridge against their opponents at Wembley next month, Chelsea.
The Blues stayed in London after Sunday's triumph over Manchester United in the semi-final and they will hopefully be in relaxed but focused mood for a match that promises to be one of their toughest yet.
Guus Hiddink's rejuvenated charges are still in the running for three trophies and are themselves riding a wave of confidence having disposed of Liverpool in the Champions League last week and Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday. They will have taken heart from the 4-4 draw between those two teams in the Premier League last night as they look to put more pressure on United at the summit.
So David Moyes can expect little let up in intensity from the Londoners while he will be concerned with the state of his small squad and the effects on it from 120 gruelling minutes on an energy-sapping pitch at the weekend.
He will welcome Jô back who was cup-tied for the semi-final and had to watch from the stands and will be pleased that James Vaughan came through extra-time with no ill-effects after returning from a long injury lay-off. Add Louis Saha, who will be a few more days further on from the stomach virus that disrupted his cup preparations last week, and the manager finally has options in attack. Expect the Brazilian to start, with the other two kept as weapons for the second half.
With one eye on the visit of Manchester City to Goodison Park on Saturday and the other on Arsenal who, after that draw at Anfield, could be kept in the Blues' sights at 7 points with an Everton victory this evening, Moyes may be conflicted over whether or not to rest a couple of players.
Stephen Pienaar: tired visibly at Wembley
Joseph Yobo is fit and could come into central defence to give either Phil Jagielka or Joleon Lescott a break while in midfield he may also want to make changes, with Steven Pienaar flagging visibly in the extra half-hour at Wembley. Knowing Moyes, it wouldn't be all that surprising if he fielded his strongest XI to start with and perhaps looked to introduce players like Jack Rodwell and Dan Gosling in the second half, but he must be mindful of the fatigue levels of his players.
Chelsea will be without Joe Cole, Paolo Ferreira, Jose Boswinga and Deco but they have enough strength even without that quartet that Hiddink won't be fazed.
Moyes would no doubt be happy with a repeat of last year's result, a 1-1 draw secured by Tim Cahill's spectacular overhead kick in the dying minutes and that would be enough to elevate his team above Aston Villa and into 5th place on goal difference. Seeing as this a dress rehearsal of sorts for the Final next month, though, he'd love to get one over the Pensioners and beat them for the first time in his tenure as Everton boss.
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