Jose Mourinho believes Everton are top six contenders and he considers the Blues as "direct opponents" this season.
Carlo Ancelotti will take his side to north London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, looking to kick off the 2020/21 season in style.
The mood is high around Goodison Park at the minute following a strong week on the transfer front - with Allan, James Rodriguez and Abdoulaye Doucoure all being confirmed in quick succession.
And the boss of this weekend's opponents is expecting a tough test for his side, not just on Sunday but throughout the campaign from the Blues.
Mourinho told his pre- Everton press conference [via football.london ]: "I do see them as top six challengers. I think the 10 point distance last season was just the consequence of how strange last season was.
"When we come back from lockdown it was a group of teams fighting for objectives and some others weren’t. We were, our distance to the top four, top six was giving us a light to chase.
"In Everton’s case they were a few points behind and they were a team who just let the team play and the season go to the end. Now it’s a different picture."
Blues supporters will be hoping at least some of their new transfers will be involved this weekend for the trip to face Spurs.
But Mourinho believes the best recent signing Everton have made came back in December 2019.
He added: "The best new signing that they had was the coach, Carlo [Ancelotti]. Coming again to a similar situation as mine and obviously when a coach of Carlo’s dimension goes to a club it’s not to avoid relegation or stay in mid-table.
"When Carlo goes to Everton, it’s easy to understand what Everton wants, want Carlo.
"Their ambitions, then in the market they bought high quality, they bought players that know Carlo very well, they worked with him in previous clubs and a good squad becomes a much stronger squad.
"So yes I look at them as direct opponents."
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