It takes something pretty special these days for a club outside of the traditional and financial superpowers to attain the Holy Grail of Champions League qualification. This season however, the Premiership seems as open as ever, with the big clubs so far failing to pull away from the pack.

Manchester City have looked the most impressive but have already suffered a couple of setbacks. United and Arsenal currently occupy top four berths without having convinced. Champions Chelsea meanwhile, languish at the wrong end of the table amid a Mourinho third season slump.

Could an outsider then, the likes of Everton perhaps, take advantage and sneak into a coveted 4th place finish?

The answer ultimately is yes, although it will take some doing and a fair amount of good fortune as well as good performances, will be needed along the way.

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Everton last finished 4th back in the 2004/05 season but the decade between then and the present day, has been one of great consistency for the Merseyside club. Most of which was achieved under the guidance of David Moyes. More latterly the man calling the shots has been Roberto Martinez.

In his first season, Martinez took the side to 5th in the table. The subsequent Europa League adventure affected the league form badly and the Toffees eventually clambered to 10th last term after a sluggish start.

This time around though, without any continental distractions, Everton have caught the eye early on. The attractive Martinez brand of football is still evident but as a unit they have a steelier look and the defence which leaked 50 league goals last season has been breached on only 8 occasions so far.

The Spaniard, gathering momentum in his third campaign in charge, has made only systematic tweaks to the playing squad he inherited from Moyes and the core of his current side is the same as that which amassed 72 points two seasons ago.

If this year’s vintage can come close to that total, their chances of Champions League qualification are good. A decade ago Everton needed only 61 points to realise their European dream.

That though, was an era before Manchester City were even on the radar as a financial force and the gap between the big spenders and the rest was not quite the chasm it is now.

Nevertheless,there have been other instances which should offer the Blue half of Liverpool plenty of encouragement. Under Harry Redknapp, Spurs grabbed 4th twice, in 2010 and 2012, with 70 and 69 points respectively. 68 was enough for Arsenal in 2011.

So what do Everton need to do to have a shot at the big time? First and foremost they need to stay injury free. Chelsea are likely to recover from their struggles and be breathing down Everton necks before long.

The Stamford Bridge outfit though, along with the other big players, plus Spurs and Liverpool, have the distraction of European fixtures.

Everton by contrast, can field their best side week in-week out in the league and the players should remain fresh as the matches tick by. Those players, specifically the coach’s favoured 14 or 15 men, must remain fit in order for the Goodison park outfit to have a chance. They can compete with the richer sides on their day but are not afforded the luxury of the same strength in depth.

The likes of Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley for example will be key to any Champions League push. It must be said though, that Martinez’s men have made a fairly assured start without some of their bigger names.

England left back and set piece specialist, Leighton Baines, has yet to feature due to injury this term, while Kevin Mirallas has played only a bit part role.

With a bit of good fortune Everton have the players to challenge the big clubs, as they have already show by their stunning defeat of Chelsea last month.

The picture will be a lot clearer after their next four fixtures. Manchester United are next up after the international break, followed by a trip to Arsenal. Sunderland at home is then followed by high flying West Ham in London.

A minimum of 7 points from those encounters would be required if the Goodison faithful are to head towards the festive period still holding hopes of the elusive top four.

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