Even Better Than The Red Thing

The battle for next year’s final Champions League spot is really starting to heat up after Everton completed a wonderful away win over Manchester City, this puts them in 4th place, 3 points clear of Liverpool, who have a game in hand. Everton’s away win was worth more than the 3 points they gained. Manchester City have managed to climb up the table due to their impressive home record. Knowing that their away form is so poor, Manchester City have made the City of Manchester stadium a fortress this season, going 12 matches unbeaten. But despite all this, Everton dominated this encounter, producing numerous scoring opportunities, even after going two up. This left Manchester City dumfounded, and increasingly frustrated. After all, they are not used to being on the back foot when playing in front of their home fans.This win is a warning sign for Liverpool. Rafa Benitez’s lads were supposed to fight for the Premiership title, but now see their local rivals taking their Champions League spot. True, Liverpool’s squad is packed with many world-class players, but it seems that Everton have got the edge in two areas: The strength of the team, and the trust in their manager.Since it is unlikely that Everton’s great teamwork will suddenly disappear, and since David Moyes is clearly a superior manager, Liverpool will have to fight hard to get their Champions League spot back. They have the ability to do so, but this year Everton are worthy opponents, if not more.