Chelsea look to hold on to 4th spot in EPL table

LONDON (SE) - While Chelsea currently are in the last 16 of the Champions League, they may need to lift the trophy in order to return next season with all the opportunities they've squandered of late.

The Blues will get no pity at Goodison Park on Saturday versus Everton, who have taken the full three points in the last two meetings between the sides there.

Chelsea (12-7-5) have a tenuous hold on the fourth and final Champions League spot in the table, leading Newcastle United by one point and Arsenal by three. Despite getting points in all but one of their last 12 matches, the Blues have been held to six draws in that span, dropping vital points that have all but mathematically eliminated them from the Premiership title race - they are 14 points behind front-running Manchester City - and put them in a five-way fight for the final two spots for the financially lucrative European tournament.

The latest squandering of points came Sunday at home, where Chelsea built a 3-0 lead in 50 minutes before arch rivals Manchester United scrambled back to forge a 3-3 draw and share the points. The Blues - playing without injured captain and defender John Terry - conceded two goals on penalty kicks before allowing the equaliser in the 84th minute.

Manager Andre-Villas Boas excoriated referee Howard Webb after the match for the second spot kick while still feeling aggrieved from the teams' previous match, a 3-1 victory by United at Old Trafford.

``I don't know if Howard Webb had the correct angle to make the decision, but it was unlucky from him to give it,'' he said. ``I'm not sure if he's compensating from anything in the first half, but it was the wrong decision ... we expect, in top games, top refs and, at the moment, it hasn't been happening for us.

``It didn't happen at Old Trafford with two goals offside, and maybe today a dubious decision that, in the end, shifted the running of the game.''

Terry, who continues to be the centre of controversy after the English FA stripped him of the national team captaincy as he faces racism charges, is likely to sit out this match due to a knee injury. Ramires also is out with a knee injury, and midfielder Frank Lampard is in a race to be match-fit as he tries to overcome a small tear in his calf.

While Fernando Torres did assist on Juan Mata's second-half goal, he has now gone 13 league matches without a goal. Daniel Sturridge, who shares the team lead with Lampard with nine goals in league play, has failed to score in five league matches.

Everton (8-6-10) are firmly mid-table with 30 points, trailing Swansea City on goals scored but have a comfortable goal differential over Stoke City. The Toffees have taken points from their last four league matches and salvaged a 1-1 draw at last-place Wigan last Saturday on a goal by Victor Anichebe in the 83rd minute.

Despite not taking the full three points, Everton have every reason to be confident on their home pitch versus Chelsea. Manager David Moyes' side posted a 1-0 victory in the corresponding fixture last season, and American Landon Donovan is looking for a repeat performance from 2010, when he helped the Toffees secure a 2-1 victory.

"They're coming off an interesting result against Manchester United, so it will be an interesting game to see how they respond to that," he said. "We feel good in how we're playing, we like how we're playing right now and our form has been pretty good so it makes for a really good matchup."

Sturridge and Terry scored first-half goals to power Chelsea to a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge in the reverse fixture.