Chelsea vs Everton simulated as huge impact on Champions League chase predicted

Chelsea face Everton in the Premier League's early kick-off this weekend, with three points vital in the Blues' hunt for Champions League football next season.

Late goals from Tyrique George and Pedro Neto saw Chelsea come from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 in the Premier League last weekend, ensuring the Blues stayed within touching distance of their rivals in the race for a top-five spot. Enzo Maresca's side enter the weekend in sixth place, two points behind Newcastle in fifth and three behind Nottingham Forest in fourth.

Three points are needed for Chelsea, but it won't be easy, with Everton having only lost two of their last 13 Premier League games. The two sides drew 0-0 in their meeting earlier this season, but Cole Palmer scored four in a 6-0 win against the Toffees at Stamford Bridge last season, so Maresca will be hoping the Englishman can rediscover that sort of form later today.

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So, could Chelsea pick up three points against Everton? Let's take a look.

We simulated Chelsea vs Everton to get a score prediction

To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 25 and updated the squads with the latest injuries, suspensions and transfers.

We predict that Chelsea could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson.

We predict that Everton could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Pickford; O'Brien, Keane, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; Harrison, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Beto.

Chelsea had a glorious chance to go ahead in the opening two minutes when Jadon Sancho picked out the run of Nicolas Jackson with a wonderful cross into the box, but the striker could only direct his effort wide of goal from six yards out. It was a poor miss from Jackson, and he should've scored minutes later from a similar position, but this time his header from close range was sent down the throat of Jordan Pickford.

Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto and Moises Caicedo all had long-range efforts well-saved by Pickford as Chelsea looked to break the deadlock, but they were made to pay for their missed chances as Everton went ahead with their first shot of the game.

A long ball forward was well protected by Beto as he waited for support, and a smart backheel sent the ball through the legs of Trevoh Chalobah and into the path of Iliman Ndiaye. The attacker got the wrong side of Reece James before drilling a sweet strike into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.

A flurry of chances saw Everton come close not long after the restart, but Robert Sanchez made some strong saves to keep the Blues just one goal behind. Chances were limited for Chelsea in the closing stages of the game as Everton sat deep to defend their lead, and Maresca's side were unable to find the much-needed goal as they fell to a damaging defeat in terms of their Champions League football chase.

EA FC 25 predicted final score: Chelsea 0-1 Everton

What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!