Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
This Afternoon marks a return to Goodison Park for David Moyes. He spent a succesful decade on Merseyside but since departing from the Everton helm life has not been as kind, there’s ‘that’ spell at Manchester United not to mention an unforgettable stint at Real Sociedad.
Add this dogged battle to beat the drop with current club Sunderland you get the feeling that Moyes almost wishes he never left. But that said there is no time for sentiment in Football and he will not be worrying about a happy homecoming more the fact that Sunderland could desperately do with a win as they currently find themselves at the foot of the table.
Such are the fine margins at the bottom of the table should they win and other results go their way they could also find themselves out of the drop zone. There really is all to play for and an in form Everton are not going to be in the mood for any generosity.
Because this is an Everton side that is unbeaten in their last eight league matches and last time they played in front of their own fans they put 6 past a hapless Bournemouth side. That will no doubt prove a huge cause for concern for their opponents this Afternoon.
But the fact they were held to a 0-0 stalemate in their last league outing away at Middlesbrough will also give Sunderland cause for optimism. It was an off day for Everton that Afternoon as they failed to break down Aitor Karanka’s side. Those two games in a microcosm show that there just is not quite enough consistency to bridge the gap to the top 6.
Regardless of their result today Everton will stay 7th but a win would at least cut the gap to Manchester United to 4 points. They will no doubt be watching the EFL Cup Final with interest tomorrow and Ronald Koeman will be hoping that United can win against his old club Southampton.
In doing so it would then throw open another Europa League place to the Premier League and offer Everton the very real possibility of returning European Football to Goodison Park next season and after their performances this campaign you would have to say it would be deserved.
But if Southampton win then that route is blocked off and Everton would then have their work cut out to gatecrash the top 6. It would arguably need a continuation of this form until the end of the season in the hope that the big clubs continue to drop points along the way.
Everton may be the best of the rest but they cannot afford to be complacent especially after such a poor season last time around and they can look to assert that status with all three points this Afternoon. Sunderland will have to hope that they can find the scoring form that saw them score 4 past Crystal Palace in the first half three weeks ago.
But two weeks ago was the yin to their yang as they then shipped 4 at home to Southampton. It seems to be one step forward and two steps back for Sunderland this season, just when you think the opportunity is there to build some momentum they then go and undo all their hard work with results like this.
If the fearsome version of Sunderland that beat Crystal Palace comfortably turns up then we could have a game on our hands but I get the feeling it will be nearer the edition that took a hammering from Southampton a fortnight ago. A return to winning ways for Everton and an unhappy return for David Moyes. A home win.
