Carlo Ancelotti welcomes his former club Chelsea to Goodison Park on Saturday for the first time.
The Italian is closing in on his one-year anniversary with Everton after replacing Marco Silva on December 21 last year.
This has been Ancelotti's first taste of Premier League football since being let go by Chelsea in 2011 after finishing runners up to Manchester United in the race for the Premier League title.
Ancelotti's departure came as a surprise to most Chelsea supporters, who were sympathetic to the managers who had delivered their third-ever Premier League crown and an FA Cup triumph in his debut season at the club.
Throw forward nine years and the Everton boss is trying to resculpture the Blues squad into an outfit that can challenge for European qualification and beyond.
Yuri Zhirkov and Daniel Sturridge were Ancelotti's only real major signings during the summer of 2009/10, which contrast heavily to the money spent on acquiring Allan, Abdoulaye Doucoure, James Rodriguez and Ben Godfrey this year.
The route to Ancelotti's success at Chelsea laid in his midfield three, a combative, disciplined combination of John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard.
There are arguably parallels to be drawn with the trio Ancelotti has formed at Everton, with Allan playing an important pivot role in front of the back four, Doucoure in the Ballack box-to-box mould - but the third player chopping and changing at present.
During that 09/10 title-winning season, Chelsea relied heavily on two main goal-scorers in Didier Drogba and Lampard. Nicolas Anelka was used a wide forward in the same ilk as Richarlison in the Blues' system but he managed only 11 goals.
Lampard hit 22 goals and Drogba claimed the golden boot ahead of Wayne Rooney with 29 - and whilst Everton lack goals from central midfield, Richarlison will certainly hope to provide a strong output from the left to support Ancelotti's number nine, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, as Everton's main provider.
When comparing how Everton have evolved and the similarities with Chelsea, you have to caveat any conclusions by allowing for the disparity in quality of player at Ancelotti's disposal. Chelsea finished the season as Premier League champions whereas a finish in the European spots might be deemed a success for Everton at this stage of the rebuilding project.
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However, the similarities between the two XIs goes further than simply the formation and the roles of individuals within that set-up. Both teams boast similar numbers when in possession.
Ancelotti's Chelsea were easy on the eye but they weren't as possession-heavy as a Pep Guardiola team. With John Terry, Petr Cech and Ashley Cole in their prime, they were as comfortable in a low block as they were hounding inferior opposition.
On the ball, the possession and touches stats between the two teams are very similar. On route to the title, Chelsea had the third-highest number of passes in the league (18,852) and ranked the same for touches (28,914).
With Everton this season, Ancelotti's side rank fifth in both categories but boast similar numbers to that Chelsea side. They have made 5,834 passes and 7,892 touches, which average at 20,154 and 27,263 across a 38-game season.
Those numbers suggest that this Blues side are actually more possession-based than his team of old. Chelsea played with two rapid players in Anelka and Florent Malouda in wide areas - whereas Everton have a natural playmaker in James Rodriguez on the right - making the 09/10 title winners slightly more suited to counter-attacking at speed.
A lot has changed in 10 years; Brexit and coronavirus have caused enough frustrations for a lifetime and the two clubs have gone through 11 managers combined, but with each passing month, Ancelotti continues to use similar methods to return Everton amongst the best in the Premier League.
