A number of Chelsea fans were all saying the same thing with the Blues in total control in Monday evening's 6-0 win over Everton. Four goals to the good at half-time courtesy of Cole Palmer's hat-trick and Nicolas Jackson's superb strike, it was to get even better for the west London club after the break as Palmer scored his fourth and Alfie Gilchrist notched his first ever Chelsea goal.

With the game already over as a contest prior to half-time due to Chelsea's big lead, some supporters had called for both Jackson and Moises Caicedo to make way. The former did exit the pitch in the 88th minute and the latter remained on for the full match.

The reason for the calls to hook both players was not down to their performance, but due to the fact that the pair are on nine yellow cards for the Premier League season so far. As per Premier League rules, any player earning 10 bookings from his side's first 32 Premier League matches will serve a two-match ban in the same competition.

Dangerously close to hitting that number, Chelsea's home win over Everton was the Blues' 31st league game of the season. It means that both Jackson and Caicedo now have one more game to go to try and avoid the possibility of a two-match suspension.

As Chelsea are in FA Cup semi-final action against Man City on Saturday evening, their next league fixture comes three days later as they travel across the capital to take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It will be a huge match for both sides as Arsenal look to keep their title hopes alive and their opponents fight for European football.

As both Jackson and Caicedo have been regulars starters in Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea XI this term, they will be expected to start in the London derby at the Emirates Stadium. It does present the Blues boss with a bit of a dilemma as one option to hopefully see them avoid a two-game ban would be to name them on the bench against Mikel Arteta's side.

If either player does indeed pick up a yellow card against the Champions League quarter-finalists then they would unfortunately be absent for the away trip to Aston Villa on Saturday, April 27 and the home match against Tottenham on Thursday, May 2. Pochettino really cannot afford to be without two of his regular starters at such a crucial time in the season, especially with the team now firmly in the mix for European football in what remains of the term.

Currently ninth in the standings but only three points behind Newcastle United in sixth, Chelsea have a game in hand on their rivals and that may prove decisive in the final weeks of the 2023/24 campaign. As ever, Caicedo and Jackson have a big part to play but they need to ensure they are available to go in all seven of their remaining league games.

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