In last week’s 1-1 Premier League draw at Burnley, James, 29, suffered a slight calf problem and has not practiced this week.
Everton will be without James Rodriguez, the star playmaker, as Carlo Ancelotti takes on his old Chelsea club on Saturday.
James Rodriguez is one of three players Carlo Ancelotti ruled out ahead of the Chelsea game.
“We have James out – he had a little problem in the game against Burnley,” Ancelotti said at his pre-match news conference.
“He was not able to train this week, I think he will start to train next week. For this game, we don’t want to take a risk.”
“He had a charge on his calf muscle after the game against Burnley. Nothing special, but he was not able to train.”
“We have to look at him after the game to see if he will be able to train and play against Leicester [City, on Wednesday].”
