43 min: Everton earn a couple of corners and two crosses cause havoc in the Chelsea box. The home side just about clear it away.

41 min: Coleman picks the pocket of Mudryk, and the Ukrainian fouls the Irishman as he tries to win the ball back. Another yellow card.

39 min: After my pre-match build up, I can confirm that Branthwaite has had a stinker so far. Jackson turns the defender and races past Englishman before tumbling inside the area. No penalty.

“I can’t tell you how depressing it is to see a brilliant young talent in Branthwaite and realise we have to sell him because of our financial situation, emails Mary Waltz. “But I guess that is the fate of any Everton fan these days.”

As a Blackburn fan myself, there are some very mixed feelings watching local lad Adam Wharton playing so well for Palace. We had to sell him (for £18m) but it still hurts.

37 min: Another yellow card for Everton, with Young catching Gallagher with a trip after a nifty turn from the Chelsea midfielder.

EVERTON GOAL DISALLOWED!

33 min: Onana gets a Mudryk arms to the face and needs a minute of treatment.

31 min: That was a 17-minute hat-trick. A good stat below here from Opta, Palmer beating the six-match run from Drogba and Gudjohnsen.

GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Everton (Palmer 29)

28 min: Garner, who is chasing shadows in Everton’s midfield, picks up a yellow card for a late challenge on Palmer.

26 min: Jackson tries his luck from 25 yards after some sloppy play from Garner, but the Senegalese blasts high and wide. Not really his forte, long-range strikes, but I’ve been mostly impressed by Jackson when I’ve watched him this season.

24 min: I wonder if Gareth Southgate is here tonight. What else would the England manager be doing on a Monday night with two months until the Euros. From Palmer to Gallagher to Branthwaite to Pickford, plenty of English talent on show, although the Everton goalkeeper has had a nervy evening thus far.

22 min: Based upon Chelsea’s recent performances and results against 10-man Burnley and almost relegated Sheffield United, this game is not over yet.

GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Everton (Palmer 18)

17 min: Everton are all over the shop.

15 min: Chelsea so nearly double their lead. The Blues hit Everton on the counter attack. Mudryk and Madueke exchange passes, the latter crossing from the byline. Palmer is completely free in the middle but gets slight in front of the cross, and can’t hook it in from only a couple of yards wide. It was an awkward height, the cross but on a second watch, it seems silly that Palmer didn’t just knee it in.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Everton (Palmer 13)

An unbelievable miss from Beto!

7 min: Madueke has started really nicely on Chelsea’s right flank. Twice he has had the beating of Mykolenko. The winger has had a frustrating campaign so far, this is the first time he has started back-to-back games under Pochettino. Madueke scored a great goal at Sheffield United, there’s definitely a player in there.

5 min: Both keepers are nearly caught out by underhit backpasses but Petrovic and Pickford survive.

“That Everton away kit is such an eyesore that it warrants a severe style-points deduction”, quips Peter Oh.

3 min: It will not shock you to read that Everton have lumped a free kick to the back post, where Tarkowski is waiting, but Chelsea franticly clear away the knock down.

1 min: A nasty one for Gallagher, who get the full weight of Onana (and his studs) on the top of his right foot in the game’s opening moments.

Peeeeeeeep! And we’re off at the Bridge.

The teams are out! Chelsea in the royal blue, Everton in their gross fluorescent away kit that is somewhere between pink and orange. Eurgh.

This is genuinely heartwarming.

Speaking of pace, look at that Everton right flank: Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young, combined age 73. Great players in their day, but perhaps not the best duo to face Mykhailo Mudryk.

“Must be an attempt to bore that whippersnapper Mudryk to sleep with stories about the old days of pre-VAR football”, emails Edan Tal.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about Jarrad Branthwaite. What a brilliant young defender he is, and I really hope he makes the England squad this summer, even if I suspect he won’t make Southgate’s starting XI (although he should IMO).

The suitors will be hovering this summer, regardless of whether Everton survive or not. Manchester United have been linked with an £80m bid, which is not the first time in recent years they have spent that sum on a big English centre back. But Branthwaite is a more complete player than Harry Maguire, even at 21 years old, and has that magic quality: pace.

Both sides are depleted, it’s that stage of the season. But Chelsea’s bench looks particularly inexperienced. Everton will fancy their chances tonight, despite manager Sean Dyche just admitting that they will be without Calvert-Lewin and Gana Gueye tonight:

Dom’s got a tight hamstring, nothing more, so we’re happy in the sense that we think it will recover quickly. It was a tight call. We also lost Gana this morning who woke up with a tight calf.

The teams!

Very intrigued and heartened to see Everton midfielder Dele Alli making his punditry debut on Monday Night Football. The England international, still just 28, has had a rough ride in recent times, overcoming a sleeping pill addiction and speaking openly about his traumatic childhood. Last year he revealed he was sexually abused at the age of six and selling drugs aged eight.

Since signing for Everton on a free transfer in January 2022, injuries and other issues have restricted Alli to just 13 Premier League appearances. As part of that deal from Spurs, Everton were due to pay Tottenham £10m if Alli made 20 Premier League appearances. Tonight is significant because, with seven games to go and Alli in a Sky studio rather than Everton’s squad tonight, it is now impossible that the midfielder will make it to 20 appearances, thus saving Everton a fee that they really can’t afford right now.

Alli’s Everton contract expires in the summer, I really hope he finds another club and gets back to his best. He’s no stranger to the Football League from his MK Dons days, I’m sure there will be clubs out there that are interested. Or maybe even a move abroad.

Preamble