Jose Mourinho claims that Everton share Manchester United’s level of ambition.
Sunday’s Old Trafford showdown will pit the increasingly under-fire Portuguese manager against his Blues counterpart and personal friend Marco Silva.
A solitary point separates United and the Goodison Park club, who have embarked on an unprecedented level of spending in the past two seasons.
Mourinho believes that Everton’s £80 million summer investment, including the capture of Barcelona duo Yerry Mina and Lucas Digne, is a statement of intent.
He said: “We knew the club would move in that direction.
“Difficult, incredible investment [in] very good players, players from Barcelona.
“So that is the level which Everton wants to reach. Their ambitions are very similar to our ambitions.”
Silva’s side head to a struggling Red Devils on the back of recording a three-game winning streak, but remains wary of the threat that their hosts still pose.
“Man United is always dangerous,” insists the Everton manager.
“It’s always a very good team, always a strong side for all the opponents they can play against. For me, there’s no doubts about that.
“When you are talking about [Romelu] Lukaku, it’s normal when a striker doesn’t score in the last games to criticise them.
“It happened the same with some of our strikers before. It’s football. I think Lukaku and the Man United team have the quality to do good things.
“We have to do everything that we can to achieve a result and to stop them.”