Rio Ferdinand says Everton should be included in discussions over the Premier League title race.
The Toffees are six points off leaders Leicester City with two games in hand, although could find themselves further off the top after Manchester United's game against Fulham later this evening.
Leicester went top of the table with an impressive victory over Chelsea on Tuesday evening that underlined their strong recent form under Brendan Rodgers.
The Toffees face Leicester City next week in what will be an intriguing encounter and Ferdinand believes that Everton should also be included in the title race along with Liverpool.
Speaking on BT Sport, the former England defender argued all of the top six should be considered as being in with a chance of finishing top of the Premier League in what is turning into a very unpredictable season.
Whilst the Toffees enjoyed a strong start to the season, talk of potential title challenge dipped when it became clear that there were concerns over the squad depth at Goodison Park.
Yet Ferdinand argued that the presence of manager Carlo Ancelotti means that the Toffees could rival the likes of Liverpool for a top-of-the-table finish this season.
He said: “If you look at the league, you’ve got Man United, Man City, Tottenham…
“I think down to Everton. You can’t discount Everton playing a part in this because of the manager.
“Ancelotti knows what it takes to win a league. He’s got a very good team there, the squad depth probably isn’t what he would like but I think you’ve got to look at down to Everton.”
