Palmer's fantastic four piles misery on feeble Everton

On a night when Jordan Pickford's distribution deteriorated and Jarrad Branthwaite added to Sean Dyche's gloom by going off injured, nothing summed up the extent of Everton's collapse more than the fact that the players who tried hardest to stop Cole Palmer scoring were wearing blue.

- Jacob Steinberg

Chelsea                                                                                   6
Palmer 13 18 29 64pen, Jackson 44, Gilchrist 90

Everton                                                                                    0

Even Chelsea's most emphatic win in the Premier League this season had to feature a reminder of their immaturity. Palmer, whose second hattrick in as many home games moved him up to 20 goals and nine assists in his debut season in west London, was as bemused as anyone when Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke tried to take a second-half penalty off him.

Palmer was hunting his fourth and Mauricio Pochettino, whose side are three points off sixth place, saw normal service resumed when the attacker made it 5-0. The focus could flip back to Chelsea's vibrancy, as well as a dismal performance from Everton. Alfie Gilchrist completed the humiliation with his first senior goal and left Everton, two points above the bottom three, in trouble.