The Merseyside derby takes on added significance this weekend as Everton head to Anfield seeking to finish above bitter rivals Liverpool for successive seasons in the top flight for the first time since 1937.
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A win on Sunday would ensure David Moyes's side could not be overtaken by Liverpool, although victory in itself would be an achievement as they have not come back from the red side of town with three points for 14 years.
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After last season's seventh to Liverpool's eighth, Everton would be guaranteed at least a sixth-placed finish with a win.
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Unfortunately for them, that would still see them miss out on a place in Europe, though they remain with an outside chance of snatching fifth, and entry to the Europa League, and possibly even a top four champions League berth.
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"We'll go there full of the confidence that we've got this year," Everton midfielder Leon Osman told the Liverpool Echo.
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"We're five points above them at the minute and a win would certainly be great for us. But we're still on the coat-tails of the teams above us and we're trying to win for that reason as well."
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While the European battle is a major focus, for many Everton fans the chance for the right to crow about back-to-back higher finishes is an even tastier prospect.
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The fact it has taken so long, despite Everton winning the league five times in the period, points to their inconsistency, illustrated perfectly when they followed their 1970 championship-winning season by finishing 14th.
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The few years when the clubs did not play in the same division are not counted in the run but there is still a long period where Liverpool can claim to have had the upper hand.
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After being the dominant force in the English game in the late 1970s and 1980s, Liverpool briefly ceded power to their neighbours.
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Yet even though Everton won the league in 1985 and '87 - with Liverpool second both times - Liverpool took the honours in between, rubbing it in by completing the 1986 double by beating league runners-up Everton in the FA Cup final.
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But where Liverpool have managed back-to-back titles several times over the decades, Everton have never strung two together in the nine times they have been English champions.
They just need an outright victory when the time comes. Their players must be motivated. The goals have to come
Everton football club will definately need any point they get now before the season ends. They need to fight till the last whistle