Tony Cascarino predicts Everton top-four chances
Popular football pundit Tony Cascarino has suggested that Everton can finish in the Premier League top four this season.
The likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are expected to fight for the league title this season, but Cascarino has suggested that the Toffees have a sneaky chance of breaking into the top four.
The Toffees are fifth in the league table, two points behind league leaders Chelsea. They have impressed heavily under Rafael Benitez so far.
Everton are heading into the October international break on the back of an entertaining 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Cascarino has suggested that the Toffees have done extremely well despite missing key players like Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Seamus Coleman.
“I think this season’s Champions League quartet of City, Liverpool, Chelsea and United are very likely to take the four places, but I’d give a sneaky chance to Everton,” wrote Cascarino for The Times.
“Yes, they’ve had a fairly easy run of fixtures so far but they sit fifth despite injuries to three important players — Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Seamus Coleman.”
The Times journalist Paul Hirst also feels that Everton have an outside chance of securing the Champions League spot next season.
“I think the only contender with an outside chance is Everton. Rafael Benítez is working wonders at Goodison Park despite having a very limited budget,” wrote Hirst for The Times.
“Demarai Gray, who joined for only £1.5 million from Bayer Leverkusen, could turn out to be the bargain of the season.”
Genius Rafa
The Everton fan base was sceptical when Benitez was appointed. However, the Spaniard is working wonders at the Merseyside club.
In the transfer market, Everton spent very little and yet two of their signings have been outstanding so far – Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray.
Benitez has worked on the Everton defence and they look quite compact at the back. The home form has been brilliant so far with Everton winning all of their games at Goodison Park.
Another noticeable point is the form of Abdoulaye Doucoure. Benitez has given him the freedom to play as a box-to-box midfielder and he has been simply brilliant.
If Everton can make some good signings in January, there’s no reason to believe that they can’t challenge for the top four spot this season.
In other Everton news, this Blues star has branded a talkSPORT pundit ‘Mr Clickbait’ after sharing his verdict on Mohamed Salah.