Everton-Manchester United Preview

(AP) -- LONDON (SE) - Manchester United will look to move a step closer to the Premier League title when they welcome Everton to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

United go into the weekend five points clear at the top of the table, and centre-back Jonny Evans believes that the squad should be getting more praise for their achievements this season.

"The bar has been raised again," said Evans. "Chelsea did it a few years ago.

"Whenever there is an out-and-out challenger the other teams have to be better than they had been before. People keep saying it is a great achievement for this team (to be where we are) but if you look at our record it speaks for itself.

"People say we have not been playing well but some of the football we have played at home has been outstanding. You can't always play well away from home but we have gone away and ground out results.

"It would be nice to think we can almost touch another winners' medal, but we can't think about that yet. It can change in just a couple of days.

"Five points sounds a lot but it isn't when you think about it. We have to concentrate on getting over the Everton game first and still being five points clear when we play Manchester City."

Visitors Everton will be picking themselves up from last weekend's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool, but captain Phil Neville has dismissed reports that the Wembley loss may prompt an exit for manager David Moyes.

"The way he has managed us in the last month or two suggests to me that he is in it for the long-term," said Neville. "He has been fantastic and rotated the team, something this club hasn't been able to do before. The lads have really embraced that.

"He is ambitious and he wants to get to the top. He wants to do that with Everton. We've just got to make sure we stop slipping up at this stage of games.

"It's going to be difficult to lift ourselves. Back in October, everyone had written us off. Everyone thought the club was on its knees and we were finished as a team. But we bounced back.

"It's going to be a test of our mettle now but we've got five games left and if we can finish seventh that might give us European football. That is something to hang on to."

United remain without Anderson (hamstring), Anders Lindegaard (ankle), Darren Fletcher (bowel), Nemanja Vidic (knee) and Michael Owen (thigh). Everton have doubts over Leighton Baines (hamstring) and Jack Rodwell (hamstring).

Manchester United have won five straight home matches against Everton and haven't lost to the Toffees in the league since 1992 - a run of 19 games. The Red Devils are in fine form having won seven on the bounce at Old Trafford and conceding just once in their last seven games home and away. Only Manchester City have scored more goals at home than United this season. The Toffees have yet to be shown a red card this season, but not a single player has managed more than five goals over the course of the campaign.

Updated April 20, 2012