I think Chelsea will beat the Toffees. It will be a couple of years before Carlo Ancelotti to get his squad sorted.
It may well be an extremely fought affair, with Carlo's toffees trying to upset the Chelsea apple cart. Lately, it seems, we started on the wrong foot, by trailing, and then after some effort, get the 3 points, it would be nice if we can keep a clean sheet. may the best in the field take the prize.
The biggest issue facing Teams that are trying to break the strangehold of the Sky 6 better known as the Big 6 is the rules of FFP, it was supposedly brought in to stop Teams over spending but it also stops Teams challenging the Top 6, yes Everton, Leicester, Wolves, Villa have money but can only spend within FFP which only allows Teams to make losses of no more than 35 million over a 3 year period, if one of these qualifies for Europe the FFP rules are slightly more tight, Wolves had a fine from EUFA for overspending but were within the FA/PL FFP guidelines. The upshot of this is Teams can only improve there teams gradually and when one of the main players gets injured the cover that they have is nowhere near the same standard, the SKY 6 can usually bring in an almost identical standard of player as an example Chelsea can bring in Giroud who recently scored 4 goals in one game but isnt guaranteed a starting place, Liverpuddle can bring in Firminio or Jota, Manure can bring in Pogba, Cavani, Van de Beek and others, Spuds can bring on Bale, La Celso etc, Man City are not so strong with Aguero being injured, the Teams just below these have squads nowhere near the same strength as those Teams mentioned.
You are so right in all your thoughts, Heathen The video (actually audio only) below is mostly about Everton but there is lots of information/graphs etc showing how difficult it is for the teams below the usual Champions League qualifiers to ascend to the top. It is financially focussed and mentions many teams. The differences in the qualities of the squads are enormous, as you pointed out. This is the "project" that Ancelotti and Farhad Moshiri mention a lot. The strange thing was the ineffective managers that the board brought in before Ancelotti
I think that any team has the chance to shine if the players attitude and mentality is on the job at hand. After all, Leicester won the League not so long ago. with a manager that moulded a bunch of people into a fighting machine and brought them to be noticed and feared. Pity that some of the most successful and mercenary ones, and the manager that brought them fame, have left the team, but even so, a respectful no 4 in the tables, at the present moment, for Leicester is not to be sneezed at.
Dream on, old timer................... There are more chances for a cabbage to jump up and bite you in the bum than the Toffee putting 3 past Chelsea.. but it is not unheard of...
Watched the derby Man u vs City this morning, 1.30 am kick off. Won't be staying up to watch another game so late. Poor game, City missed two chances to win but United's defense played well. Well done to the Toffees beating in form Chelsea.
Seems like the Manchester derby was quite boring. Everton's defenders showed up again - they had to as Chelsea are a very good team.
I actually find watching football on the TV or Computer very unpleasant as I get older. Watching matches live at the stadium gives me the feeling that my presence in some way can affect the result whereas watching on a screen makes me feel impotent. When I was playing all the time as a young man (semi-pro), I was connected to football in a big way but the connection is more and more tenuous these days. I am looking forward to taking my kids to watch Everton when everything is safe again and that will probably be a catalyst.
