Phil Neville longs to finish on top of Liverpool
Everton captain Phil Neville has said that his side should take comfort in the fact that despite their torrid start to the season, they are ahead of local rivals Liverpool in the Premier League table.
The sides face each other in a thrilling Merseyside derby after the international break. With the two teams in 17th and 18th place in the Premier League, stakes will be higher than usual.
Everton collected their first win of the season against Birmingham City last weekend, and Neville believes the victory could give his team the confidence boost it needs to overcome Roy Hodgson's side next weekend.
"The win against Birmingham has given us all a lift because it would have been disastrous if we had gone into the game at the bottom of the table," the 33-year-old said at a conference in London on Thursday. "It has given us some respite but we know full
well if we lose this game we are right down at the bottom again. We want to be on the climb and not on the descent."
Like Everton, Liverpool have struggled to justify pre-season predictions that left them in the top six of the table. So far, Hodgson's team have been knocked out of the league cup and lost three of their seven Premier League games.
Neville added that he now believes David Moyes' team has a golden opportunity to finish on top of Liverpool in the league, regardless of whether their hopes of qualifying for a spot in Europe are fulfilled.
"This season gives us a great chance of [finishing above Liverpool]. Both teams are at the wrong end of the table and that's probably unprecedented for both the blue half and the red half of Merseyside to have the two teams in the bottom four."
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