Everton throw down gauntlet in bitter fight for fourth place

Oliver Kay

Just days after Steven Gerrard told his team-mates that Champions League qualification would be “the least that is acceptable” at the end of a troubled season at Anfield, Liverpool briefly returned to fourth place in the Barclays Premier League yesterday, only for Everton to supplant them less than three hours later and to give notice to their Merseyside rivals of their intent to stay there.
Liverpool climbed two places from sixth with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium, prompting Gerrard and Rafael Benítez to talk of the “pressure” they had put their neighbours under, but Everton beat Portsmouth by the same score as Yakubu Ayegbeni continued his prolific form with another two goals.
After the final whistle blew at Goodison Park, Yakubu gleefully pointed out that the pressure was back on Liverpool, who must win their game in hand, at home to West Ham United on Wednesday, if they are to return to fourth place on goal difference. “We want to finish in fourth place,” Yakubu, the Everton forward, said. “We know Liverpool won today and we want to keep the pressure on them. There is a long way to go, ten games, and we’ll see where we go.”
Liverpool had been similarly bullish about their prospects after a comical own goal from Jussi Jaaskelainen, the Bolton goalkeeper, set them on the road to victory. “Every win is important, but it is especially important now with it being so close in the fight for fourth position,” Benítez, the Liverpool manager, said. “To put other teams under pressure is important. If we can win our game in hand, it will then depend on us.”
With a superior goal difference — and with home advantage in the Merseyside derby on March 30 — Liverpool are the bookmakers’ favourites to finish fourth and secure a place in next season’s Champions League qualifying rounds.
As they are 2-0 up after the home leg of their tie against Inter Milan in the last 16, Liverpool could feasibly win the competition and qualify at Everton’s expense regardless of their final league positions, with Uefa having rewritten the rules since allowing both clubs to qualify after Liverpool’s triumph in 2005. That remains the nightmare scenario for Everton, who play away to Fiorentina in the last 16 of the Uefa Cup on Thursday.
Moyes was eager to play down fears about his future at Everton, having sparked headlines yesterday by saying that he and Bill Kenwright had not spoken about a new contract that was believed to be in the pipeline. “I get on really well with the chairman and the board,” Moyes said. “I think we will talk at the end of the season, but I really just want to concentrate on what we’re doing at the moment.”
Benítez was also called upon to clarify his future as he said he was “surprised” by reports yesterday that he was in negotiations over an extension to his contract, which runs until June 2010. The Spaniard admitted that he would welcome any such talks, having sought to build bridges in recent weeks with Tom Hicks, the co-chairman, but no such move is feasible in the foreseeable future, with Dubai International Capital (DIC) trying to persuade Hicks and George Gillett Jr to sell their shares.
Hicks, who tried to replace Benítez earlier in the season, could in theory become the sole power broker by buying Gillett’s 50 per cent stake, but with the future so uncertain — and with DIC hopeful of buying out Hicks as well as Gillett — there is little scope at Anfield for long-term planning.