Everton v Chelsea: Premier League – live!

Get yer half-time Chelsea fix:

Chelsea should have already put the game to bed. Eden Hazard has been pulling the strings and rattled the post, while Higuaín equally could have scored but for a last-ditch block by Yerry Mina. It has all been a bit half-hearted by Marco Silva’s side. Chelsea have found it too easy at times, with Hazard, Pedro and Barkley roaming free in acres of space. Kepa may as well have not turned up.

45+1 min: Jorginho struggles to get to grips with Sigurdsson, who does well to stand his ground and kickstart a rare Everton move forward. But it breaks down as Bernard shunts a wild, poor ball across goal.

45+1 min: Calvert-Lewin slides in to nip the ball away from David Luiz, just as Chelsea attempt to break down the right.

42 min: Gueye is too eager in the challenge on Barkley on halfway and Chelsea win another free-kick. David Luiz floats a quick ball into Pedro, who darts in off the left flank to meet it but the flag is up.

41 min: Barkley takes aim … but it ends up nestling in the Everton wall. Chelsea do superbly to recycle possession, though, and Pedro does brilliantly to wriggle away from four Everton players – Gueye, Gomes, Calvert-Lewin and then Mina before shaping to shoot. His low drive arrows just wide of goal. Pickford was scrambling.

40 min: Richarlison eats away at Hazard, who cuts inside on the edge of the area, but the Brazilian is a little overzealous. Chelsea win the free-kick 20-odd yards from goal. Alonso and Barkley fancy it. It is in the perfect position for a right-footer to bend it over the Everton wall.

38 min: Hazard again makes life difficult for Coleman down the Everton right, where Chelsea have had lots of joy. Richarlison has offered little protection, other than a moment ago when he ended up fending off Alonso before throwing the defender into a hapless Everton ballboy.

36 min: Calvert-Lewin heads over Sigurdsson’s free-kick! It is a free header, with Azpiliceuta lost in a crowded box, but he glances off target. The dead ball was a result of a silly tug of the shirt on Richarlison by Alonso, who earned himself a routine booking in the process.

33 min: Higuaín attempts to divert Barkley’s low cross home but his effort, with the outside of his boot, ends up zooming up over the frame of Pickford’s goal. Another stat: Everton have had zero touches in the Chelsea 18-yard box. Maurizio Sarri’s side have totally ran this game.

31 min: A desperate, but fair, sliding challenge by Michael Keane prevents Hazard from charging into the box after the Belgian raced on to a neat through ball by Higuaín. Chelsea are beginning to grind through the gears, and Everton are powerless to stop them.

30 min: Chelsea work the ball into the box after a neat give-and-go between Alonso and Pedro, but the latter makes a mess of a first-time shot on picking the pass back up from his team-mate. Hazard again kickstarted the move, dancing into space on the edge of the area.

29 min: Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison have mustered five touches apiece. Everton have had little to shout about.

28 min: Mina clears with a thumping header and Pedro fails to recycle possession out wide for Chelsea. A let-off for Everton.

27 min: Sarri’s gesticulating about something on the touchline, but he should be delighted. Chelsea are basking in Everton’s woes, as Digne surrenders a silly corner. Hazard will swing it in …

26 min: Kanté frees Pedro down the right flank, and the Portuguese attempts to bend a wonderful, weighted pass into the path of Hazard in the centre. But the ball ends up just getting away from the Chelsea forward. Nice idea, though. Chelsea are dominating.

25 min: Everton hit the target! Andre Gomes takes aim from just outside the box, but it’s straight at Kepa, who comfortably collects.

23 min: Calvert-Lewin wrestles with Jorginho for the ball and inadvertently stands on the Italian’s hand as he ends up on all fours. Jorginho simply took too long, dallying in possession and a frustrated Calvert-Lewin was having none of it. Anthony Taylor does not award a free-kick, telling Chelsea to get on with it.

23 min: Barkley goes for goal after Everton back off 25 yards out, but Pickford gathers. Hazard’s influence is also growing, though Pedro has been quiet for Chelsea after impressing last time out.

20 min: Andre Gomes fouls Hazard, who is wriggling away from a sea of Everton shirts, albeit into no man’s land. Nevertheless, Everton gift Chelsea a silly free-kick 40 yards from goal. It comes to nothing.

18 min: Barkley does brilliantly to bypass Andre Gomes on the byline, but the boos seemingly get to him. He looks up after arriving in the box, with Hazard darting towards the back post but Barkley’s next move is dreadful, a mishit pass that could have gone out for a throw-in. It was a slick Chelsea move that helped Barkley into the area, with Jorginho again involved from deep.

15 min: Digne reads a poor pass out of midfield by Kanté, gets his foot on the ball and then promptly releases Calvert-Lewin. But the Everton striker, who turned 22 on Saturday, shoots high and wide. That stoppage for Gueye to receive some attention for what looked to be an ankle problem has undoubtedly helped Everton stem the flow. But home supporters have had little to shout about. Goodison is eerily quiet, a far cry from the supercharged atmosphere against Liverpool a couple of weeks ago. Silva has work to do.

14 min: Silva is frantically trying to get a message across to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Kepa has been completely untroubled in the Chelsea goal but it is at the other end where Everton look vulnerable. Hazard has already made Michael Keane look silly on a couple of occasions.

13 min: Sarri, chewing away in the technical area, will surely be happy with this. Chelsea have thrice had Everton on the ropes.

12 min: Hazard floats the ball in towards the back post, where Alonso attempts to help it on but Everton clear their lines.

10 min: Plenty of food for thought for Everton. Idrissa Gueye ends up requiring some treatment after a clash but at least Marco Silva’s side earned a little respite. They have struggled to stem the Chelsea flow, particularly down their right-hand side, where Hazard is slowly beginning to get a grip on things.

7 min: More passive defending by Everton, and Higuaín almost pokes Chelsea in front! Jorginho scoops a wonderful pass over the top of the Everton back line into Higuaín, whose first touch is sublime. But Yerry Mina is down low to get a block in and force the striker’s effort away from danger. Chelsea could have three!

6 min: And now Hazard rattles the post! He dovetails neatly with Higuaín, who spreads the ball out to the Chelsea forward down the left flank. Hazard still has a lot to do but, again, he has Keane awkwardly back-pedalling and after darting inside, he takes aim. He curls his effort towards Pickford’s far post and it cannons off the woodwork.

5 min: Pickford saves from Hazard! His right-footed effort is dealt with by the Everton goalkeeper at his near post but Everton allowed Chelsea to burst into the box all too easily. Alonso fed Hazard, who jinked inside, with Everton backing off. Hazard jinked to his left and then to his right, bamboozling Michael Keane to buy himself a yard of space before striking at goal. It was low and hard, but Pickford was equal to it.

4 min: Gueye keeps Barkley at bay 25 yards from goal, forcing the Chelsea midfielder to swivel away from goal. Barkley’s every touch is being greeted with great disdain by home supporters.

3 min: Séamus Coleman pumps the ball forward in search of Calvert-Lewin, but his pass is wayward. Chelsea, in luminous yellow, have made a relatively slow start. They’re still settling in.

2 min: Rüdiger is pulled up for a foul on Calvert-Lewin, who rose to meet Mina’s long punt downfield. Everton knock the ball around without really getting anywhere, with Idrissa Gueye getting his feet in a muddle. Marco Silva has his arms folded.

1 min: Barkley scoops the ball up in midfield in the opening seconds and his first touch is wholeheartedly jeered. Then Chelsea try to switch the ball out to the left flank to Hazard, but they overcook the pass.

And Andre Gomes gets us under way at Goodison.

Barkley is heavily booed as his name is read out over the public address system. Kick-off is almost upon us.

The teams are in the tunnel at Goodison. A warm embrace between Brazilian compatriots Richarlison and David Luiz, while Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina have big hugs for Antonio Rüdiger. The whistling Z-Cars theme tune is imminent …

What kind of reception will Barkley get? Well, in the warmup at Goodison Park, Everton fans are jeering every time he misses the target in shooting practice and Chelsea supporters celebrating each one that ends up in the back of the net. Lovely stuff. Barkley is back in the Chelsea midfield, alongside Jorginho and N’Golo Kanté.

Another talking point has been Jordan Pickford’s erratic form. But Marco Silva been unwavering in his support for the Everton and England goalkeeper, who struggled against Newcastle last weekend. “What I want in Jordan is to keep working in the same way with the same desire, improving what we have to improve with him, with more emotional balance in some moments if he can,” Silva said. “We as a team have to be different also. If you look at the goals we conceded we must do different in that moment.”

Relegated to the bench despite bagging a fine hat-trick in midweek, Giroud has every right to feel aggrieved. Giroud has played only 56 minutes of Premier League football this calendar year and has not started in the top-flight since December. “I’m a competitor and I want to play every single game and to be happy on the pitch,” he said. “I have been through a lot of tough moments in my career. I just want to enjoy playing my football after winning the World Cup last summer. I want to take maximum pleasure on the pitch. That’s why when I play I try to enjoy the game as much as I can.”

Team news news: Ross Barkley starts on his return to Goodison Park as Maurizio Sarri makes seven changes from Chelsea’s demolition job in Kyiv in midweek, leaving Olivier Giroud and Willian presumably miffed as they have to make do with a spot on the substitutes bench alongside Callum Hudson-Odoi. Everton, meanwhile, tweak things with Coleman in for Jonjoe Kenny and Yerry Mina makes his first league start since 29 December in place of Kurt Zouma, who is ineligible to face his parent club.

Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne; Andre Gomes, Gueye; Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin

Subs: Stekelenburg, Baines, Davies, Schneiderlin, Walcott, Lookman, Tosun

Chelsea (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Rüdiger, Alonso; Jorginho, Kanté, Barkley; Pedro, Higuaín, Hazard

Subs: Caballero, Christensen, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Willian, Giroud

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Chelsea may be unbeaten in seven games but the task at hand is not getting any easier. A return to the Champions League is at the forefront of hearts and minds and, while success in the Europa League may help them reach their desired destination, victory over Everton will foster further optimism. Maurizio Sarri’s side have been scoring goals for fun of late, funnelling in eight against Dynamo Kiev across 180 minutes and, if they can find their shooting boots again, they may well finish the day in the top-four berth they so crave. Chelsea would have to run riot – Arsenal have a superior goal difference – but it is not impossible, especially with Eden Hazard, in irresistible form of late, set to return to the starting lineup after a rest in midweek. Gonzalo Higuaín could also be back after illness, though Olivier Giroud was superb in Ukraine. Theo Walcott, who turned 30 on Friday, and Séamus Coleman could both start for the hosts, who start the day in 12th, behind Bournemouth. Everton seemed to have remedied their own problems in the Merseyside derby but promptly squandered a two-goal lead at Newcastle to leave Silva back at square one; they have now lost four of their last six league games. “In my opinion, Everton, outside the top six, are the best team in the Premier League in terms of technical quality,” Sarri said, but Everton need to show it.

Kick-off: 4.30pm (GMT)