Chelsea Pre-Everton Team News & Injury Update: Terry, Hazard & More…

Chelsea welcome sixth-placed Everton to Stamford Bridge on Sunday for the final game of the Premier League season.

Boss Rafa Benitez has been holding his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon and gave ChelseaFC.com a team news and injury update ahead of the game.

Captain John Terry, defender Ryan Bertrand and attacker Eden Hazard all missed Wednesday’s dramatic Europa League final win over Benfica and Benitez has confirmed the trio will not be fit in time to face Everton this weekend.

Terry picked up a knee injury against Aston Villa last weekend and will once again miss out meaning Wednesday’s hero Branislav Ivanovic should start alongside Gary Cahill at the back.

Bertrand has missed the last five games with his own knee injury and will be joined on the sidelines by Hazard who was forced off against Villa last Saturday with a hamstring injury and has failed to recover in time to face the Toffees. The good news is that striker Demba Ba is available again having been ineligible to play in midweek.

The Blues go into the game needing victory to guarantee third spot and with it automatic qualification to the Champions League group stages. Should Chelsea draw 0-0 and Arsenal beat Newcastle 2-1, the two London clubs would be forced in to a play-off to determine who finishes third as their records would be identical.

While that scenario is unlikely, it’s still possible, and defeat against Everton could see the Blues finish fourth outright so Benitez confirmed his side will be going all-out for the win to ensure they remain third and avoid a the possibility of having to play a two-legged Champions League play off in August.

‘We want to win, I don’t expect any draw, ‘If Arsenal win we will see, but also Tottenham can say something. We are just talking about Chelsea and Arsenal but maybe Tottenham can be there. We have to approach the day for us thinking about to win and after see what happens.

‘Tottenham and Arsenal will both try to win. They play for something important, it will be different for Sunderland and Newcastle but they are professional and will try to win. We have to concentrate on what we can do and try to win our game. We have been working so hard in the season that it would be a pity if we could not finish in the top three.

‘We will try to win and we won’t consider any other option. If we have to do it, these are the rules, but we will try to avoid the situation [a play off]. I have confidence we will do it.’

Now we’ve seen the team news, what would be you preferred starting line-up for the game? Leave your suggestions below.