Xabi Alonso will hope Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, and Joao Pedro can fire Chelsea to victory over Everton this afternoon.

Xabi Alonso could raise eyebrows when he selects the Chelsea starting lineup to face Everton. The 44-year-old has the luxury to make as many or as few changes as he wants when the Blues take on David Moyes' side at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, despite a handful of injuries.

The Toffees are just one of three teams yet to taste defeat in the Premier League this season, so Chelsea will need to tread carefully this afternoon. Everton were held to a 2-2 draw by Hull City at the MKM Stadium last weekend, leapfrogging the Blues and climbing to fifth in the English top flight.

Chelsea may boast one of the strongest frontlines in the division, scoring more goals than any other side bar Manchester City and Brighton, but Moyes has built a brick wall at the back. So far this term, the Toffees have conceded only five goals in six games and kept three clean sheets.

If the Blues manager has any desire to at least breach the defence, let alone leave with three points, he'll have to throw the kitchen sink at Jordan Pickford.

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In an effort to compete with Everton's physicality, Alonso could be inclined to replace Pep Chavarria and Pedro Neto with Jorrel Hato and Marco Palestra at wing-back.

The duo would offer Chelsea a little more height at dead-ball scenarios, which would certainly be helpful. But the Spaniard shouldn't get too drawn into the set-piece mind games.

Chavarria and Neto may not be able to leap like a salmon and make the first contact, but they're certainly capable of winning ground duels and bombing forward; they appear to have laid the foundations for a promising dynamic that could inflict serious damage in transition.

As for the centre-halves, Levi Colwill, Maxence Lacroix, and Josh Acheampong should remain put. Although Wesley Fofana, whom Chelsea signed from Leicester City for £70m all those years ago, has done well when called upon, the others haven't really put a foot wrong.

In the middle of the park, Romeo Lavia would ordinarily, and probably should, start alongside Moises Caicedo, but Jordan Henderson earned his place in the starting lineup when he fired Chelsea to an emphatic win over Bournemouth last weekend.

The 36-year-old midfielder more than deserves to start. With his vast experience of Merseyside derbies, too, he would actually be a good fit this afternoon, facing the music and keeping it ticking while his teammates focus on the task at hand.

It should go without saying by now that Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, and Joao Pedro should spearhead the Chelsea frontline. The Everton defence, comprised of James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, and Jarrad Branthwaite, as well as either Jake O'Brien or Ainsley Maitland-Niles, will put up more of a fight than Marco Rose's side.

The Blues probably won't have much success winning aerial duels, so they'll likely need to stay sharp and at least win the second balls. The Toffees make the pitch at the Hill Dickinson Stadium nice and big, so Chelsea will need to be prepared to cover great distances, too.

The new 4-4-2 out-of-possession system should, in theory, help, but when the tide inevitably turns, and Everton launch a counter-attack or two, igniting the boisterous home faithful, Alonso's side need to make sure they keep their heads above water.

Any fear of drowning under the lights would, of course, very quickly go away if Chelsea can, for the sixth time this season, break the deadlock inside the opening 10 minutes or so...

Predicted XI to face Everton: Emi Martinez; Levi Colwill, Maxence Lacroix, Josh Acheampong; Pep Chavarria, Jordan Henderson, Moises Caicedo, Pedro Neto; Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer; Joao Pedro.