Ronald Koeman has insisted Everton’s clash with Lyon in the Europa League is a must-win game.
The Blues have disappointed in the Europa League so far this season, picking up just one point from their first two games, the worst start by any Premier League side to a Europa League campaign in the competition’s history.
It leaves Koeman’s side sitting bottom of Group E at this moment in time and facing an uphill task to reach the knockout stages.
With two of their remaining three games at home, they have a chance to rectify that, though, and the Everton manager says Thursday’s clash with the Ligue 1 side is now a crucial fixture if they are to do so.
“It’s a really important game. We know the situation in the group that we need to win,” he said.
“We expected a win last time but we were unlucky that the team from Cyprus scored in the last minute.
“You know with only one point out of two you need a win. Normally you need three wins and home and you pick up some points from the away games.
“The situation is that we need to win tomorrow to have a chance of going through in this tournament.
“What we want is to do well in all competitions and that starts tomorrow, that’s our focus. We need to concentrate on tomorrow.
“After then, we prepare for Sunday. It’s a tough start to the season; Sunday is the fifth game of nine against the top five teams from last season.
“That’s tough but it’s all about tomorrow. If we make a good game and get a good result it makes preparing for Sunday easier.”
[interaction id=”59cec8a32d94910001ce848d”]