Why Everton Can Beat Manchester United & Liverpool To 4th Place
Every team go into the season with aspirations. For some, it is the league title, for some it is a top 4 finish, some would relish a position that would allow them play European club competition and there are some that just want to avoid relegation.
A team like Everton knows it is a tall order and almost a white elephant project to dream of winning the Premier League title or even finish 1st of 2nd runners-up but they believe that a 4th place finish and qualification for Champions League is possible. The Toffees have always been on the cusp of doing that finish 5th and 6th on a number of occasions. The only time they’ve ever finished 4th in the era of the Premier League was once and that was with Moyes in charge but Martinez would fancy his chances of matching that feat, little wonder he splashed out on former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku. As a modest team, you don’t splash out almost 30millionPounds without nursing lofty ambitions, 4th place finish certainly represents that. Standing between them and their dream are some clubs; Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham.
Arsenal have made a top 4 finish something of a hobby but Wenger would hope to finish higher this season after a flurry of summer signings and also coupled with the fact that rivals aren’t as strong. Manchester United are struggling under new boss Van Gaal and Liverpool are visibly weaker from the sale of Luis Suarez. Even City haven’t been convincing. The only team that has been blazing is Chelsea. Everton could take solace from the unconvincing performance of Liverpool and Manchester United to gatecrash the top 4 party.
Just like the teams they hope to dislodge, they also haven’t been convincing and if they intend to achieve that, they would need to start picking points against the small and middle table teams while also attempting to beat the so-called big teams. They have already drawn with Arsenal and Liverpool while loosing to Chelsea. They are left with the Manchester teams. City might be the tougher of the duo, hence they should concentrate on Manchester United that seem the weaker one.
Good thing is that they play Manchester United tomorrow and bet that is a perfect time to do so. The Red Devils are struggling with injuries, suspensions and understanding Van Gaal’s incongruous tactics. This is the time to play and beat them.
Spurs are also their rivals for a top 4 finish. The North Londoners have never hidden their desire to break into that elite group but have always fallen short and this season doesn’t look like when they would. Despite a new manager, they still look out of sorts.
The first three for me this season is Arsenal, City and Chelsea ( in no particular order). The 4th place is up for grabs but I fancy Everton picking it.