The FA Cup semi-final draw has handed Everton a potential boost for European qualification
David Moyes, head coach of Everton, embraces Pep Guardiola, head coach of Manchester City (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
David Moyes, head coach of Everton, embraces Pep Guardiola, head coach of Manchester City (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Everton’s chances of qualifying for Europe have been given a potential boost by the FA Cup semi-final draw.
The Blues haven’t taken part in continental competition since they reached the group stage of the Europa League under Ronald Koeman in 2017/18. However, speaking to this correspondent in an exclusive interview at the team’s hotel in Chicago last July while taking part in the Premier League Summer Series, manager David Moyes told the ECHO: “I wouldn’t want to use the word dream, but I’ve got an ambition to see if I can get Everton back towards European football.
“That’s what I think I have to make my first target. There are nine teams from the Premier League in Europe next season and somehow, we have to give ourselves some goals.”
With seven Premier League matches remaining, Everton currently sit eighth in the table ahead of their return to action on Saturday against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. The west London outfit are one place above the Blues but level on points (46) with a goal difference of plus four as opposed to Everton’s plus two.
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As things stand, Moyes’ men would miss out on a European spot, but that could change if a team above them wins the FA Cup. Right now, the top five teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League next season (currently Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool), with the sixth-place team (currently Chelsea) going into the Europa League and seventh (currently Brentford) getting a Conference League spot with Manchester City’s Carabao Cup win putting that place back to the league.
Last weekend’s FA Cup quarter-finals saw Manchester City beat Liverpool 4-0; Chelsea thrash League One basement club Port Vale 7-0; Championship Southampton shock Premier League leaders Arsenal 2-1 and Leeds United triumph 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at West Ham United. Manchester City and Chelsea are both above Everton in the Premier League table, Leeds are 13 points behind the Blues in 15th place and still not safe from relegation while as already mentioned, the Saints are in the second tier.
If a team that has already secured European qualification through their Premier League finish was to win the FA Cup – with Manchester City (Champions League) and Chelsea (Europa League) currently on course to do that – then the team finishing seventh would get bumped up to Europa League with the Conference League slot dropping down to eighth, Everton’s current position.
Therefore, it could be crucial that Manchester City and Chelsea have been kept apart in the FA Cup semi-final draw with Pep Guardiola’s men facing Southampton and Liam Rosenior’s side tackling Leeds United, as if results were to go with the form book and the two financial heavyweights were to both progress, then the Blues’ task of what they need to do to make Europe could become clearer before their final two fixtures.
Everton host Sunderland in the final home fixture of their first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday May 17, the day after the FA Cup final, before travelling to relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur a week later on the final day of the campaign on Sunday May 24.
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