View: Everton face biggest game of the season in Chelsea clash
Everton returned to the Premier League’s prestigious top four for the first time since late December after beating West Brom on Thursday – though it only lasted a couple of hours.
Chelsea beat Liverpool at Anfield to push past Everton and into fourth place, leaving the Toffees one league position and one point off the Champions League spots, also with a game in hand.
Carlo Ancelotti has spoken about Everton’s Champions League ambition this season, with the Toffees keen to return to Europe’s most elite competition for the first time since bowing out in the qualifying stages against Villarreal in 2005.
That makes Monday’s fixture against Chelsea arguably Everton’s most important game of the season.
Thomas Tuchel has transformed Chelsea since succeeding Frank Lampard in the Stamford Bridge dugout in late January, having not yet lost in ten games across all competitions.
Everton meanwhile have won their last three games in the Premier League, though the latter two against Southampton and West Brom hardly saw the Toffees turn in winning performances.
With just one point separating the two sides, Monday’s clash will be vital in either club’s pursuit of Champions League competition this season, and it will be the perfect opportunity for Everton to put a firm stamp down on their long-term intentions.
Everton’s transfer business last summer, as well as the club’s capture of Ancelotti himself around 15 months ago, started the ball rolling in elevating the club to the next level.
Wanting to match the ambition of traditional ‘top six’ clubs and actually putting that into practice are very different things, and the Toffees have finally made that first step.
Beating Chelsea, leapfrogging them in the Premier League table and fighting to keep that fourth place would be the next step in proving that Everton really do mean business.
In other Everton news, Jordan Pickford has continued to impress for Everton in recent weeks, equalling another personal record against West Brom.