PREMIER LEAGUE
EVERTON defender Djibril Sidibe will focus on upsetting his France team-mate Anthony Martial today to help his side close the gap on Manchester United. And the full-back, on loan from Monaco, admits he will happily get tough with the striker as Everton try to muscle in on the race for Europe.
Sidibe says he will first try to break Martial’s own focus with some tunnel banter.
He said: “There might be a bit of chat and mickey-taking! You’ll say things like: ‘You’re doing well at the moment, take it easy today and in the next match you can really go for it’.”
But if that fails, Sidibe will adopt a no-holds-barred approach. “The biggest thing as a defender is to win your first one-to-one, that first individual battle,” he said.
“If you go in reasonably hard then psychologically you’ve made your mark.
“Establishing yourself with that first challenge means they’ll know you mean business.
“But Anthony is more experienced now than he was at Monaco.
“He has an increased level of responsibility with Marcus Rashford,
VJesse Lingard and Paul Pogba all missing. “And I think he’s an even bigger danger now and threat than he was then because of his Premier League experience. He’s up against me. I’ve been alongside him with the national team as well so I know just what a handful he can be.”
Everton trail Champions Leaguechasing United by five points and critics believe if they don’t beat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s stars it’ll be tough to finish fifth with Chelsea and Liverpool next up. “I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s our last chance,” said Sidibe.
“We have the quality to be battling nearer the top, but it’s going to be a challenge. United and Chelsea are slightly above us but we have it in our locker to get up there.
“In order to achieve fifth, we’ve got to make sure we win every game at home and avoid defeat away.
“It’s a tall order – but we feel we have the tools to do it.”