Saturday evening’s pairing of Roberto Martinez’s free-flowing Everton home to Mourinho’s expensively-assembled but pragmatic Chelsea promises to be an intriguing affair. Chelsea have started well, winning both their first matches and sit second in the league, just below Spurs on points difference. Everton’s start has been more sluggish, drawing both starting games, although one was against Arsenal in a match they should have put away.
All eyes will be on both Managers and on the lineups they send into battle on Saturday. To see how fans of both clubs may be thinking about this game, we looked at the Beat Your Manager! Fantasy Football data from this fixture last season, to see what players were picked for the lineups last year.
Beat Your Manager! Fantasy Football is a game which is similar to “Football Manager”, but applied to live football, where you manage your favourite Club and pick lineups, bench, formations and substitutions, all in real-time. When fans play the game, the Beat Your Manager team can measure the popularity of different players, by looking at how frequently they are selected for the starting lineup, substitutes bench or not selected at all.
This fixture was played at Goodison Park last year on Sept. 14th 2013, after the international break and handed Mourinho a 1-0 loss, his first Premier League defeat since returning to Chelsea.
Formation: 4-4-2 selected by fans from both Clubs
Half of Everton’s fans opted for a steady 4-4-2 formation, with 17 per cent each opting for a more aggressive 4-3-3 or a more defensive 4-5-1. 4-4-2 was also the most popular formation for Chelsea fans, but only 35 per cent went for this option, 25 per cent each opting for a more attacking 4-3-3 or a more flexible 4-2-3-1.
Goalkeepers: Howard and Cech easily the first choice keepers
Fans of both clubs did not go for any surprises in goal, with both team’s regular number 1 selected for duty; Tom Howard in for Everton and Petr Cech for Chelsea. Both players have an 85 per cent rating with their respective club fans, but Howard was slightly more popular than his counterpart for a spot on the substitutes bench. With Mourinho’s recent recall of Thibaut Courtois and the start he has already made, it is easy to see how Cech’s popularity could further wane. Both real-life Managers agreed with fans, going for the identical options between the posts.
Defenders: Fans and Managers singing from the same hymn sheet
Leighton Baines was the most popular defender and most popular player, with every Everton fan playing the Beat Your manager! game selecting him for their lineups. His Everton colleague Phil Jagielka came a close second on a 92 per cent rating, with Chelsea’s Ashley Cole and David Luiz recording similar lineup stats but falling slightly behind on substitute preferences. As with the goalkeepers, Martinez and Mourinho selected the same lineups in defence as did their fans. Chelsea’s back four for tomorrow’s match will look substantially different, with Cole gone to Roma and David Luiz offloaded for a scarcely believable fee to PSG.
Midfielders: Mata makes the cut with fans and with The Special One
Everton again top the bill in the popularity stakes for midfielders, with Kevin Mirallas polling a 92 per cent approval for the lineup. Chelsea’s Frank Lampard (now with Manchester City) and Oscar are right behind though, with a 91 per cent and 90 per cent rating respectively with fans. Juan Mata just sneaks into the fourth midfield spot for Chelsea, with a 60 per cent approval from fans for this match.
Last season, Mourinho consistently ignored pleas to include Mata and eventually sold him to Manchester United during the January transfer window, despite his recording an overall 76 per cent popularity with Blues fans. For this match, the Special One fielded Mata in a three-man midfield alongside popular fan choice Ramires and John Obi Mikel (who only registered a paltry 17 per cent rating with fans), dropping instead fan favourites Lampard and Oscar.
In the Goodison dressing room, Martinez opted for two different players from fans, fielding instead new acquisition Gareth Barry (17 per cent rating) and old boy Lee Osman (50 per cent rating) in midfield instead of the fan-selected Steven Pienaar and Darren Gibson. Osman was unlucky to miss the cut with fans, but Barry’s stock was to increase substantially over the season he spent on loan at the club; by the end of the season he averaged a 76 per cent approval with Toffees fans, making him their fifth most popular player (after Baines, Lukaku, Howard and Distin).
Forwards: Real-life Managers know best?
The only part of the pitch where a Chelsea player topped the popularity stakes was upfront, with Eden Hazard the most popular striker at 92 per cent. Chelsea’s second-choice striker with fans, Fernando Torres was also the second-most popular forward, registering a 62 per cent rating, while Everton’s strike force Nikica Jelavić and Arouna Koné achieved only a modest 42 per cent approval from fans.
Jelavic’s popularity further slumped over the first half of the season, eventually achieving a miserable 27 per cent rating, which may have contributed to his January transfer window move to Hull City.
Mourinho spent a lot of last season complaining about his limited forward line, but fielded three in this game, Schurrle and Eto'o joining Hazard upfront, despite rating only 26 and 9 per cent respectively, with fans.
Instead of Koné, Roberto Martinez opted for Steven Naismith (who only received a paltry 8 per cent rating from fans) and was rewarded by the winning goal from the birthday boy, netting his second against Chelsea since the penultimate game of the previous season.
Fan-selected lineup for Everton vs. Chelsea 2013/4 EPL Season:
