First shot in anger comes from the boot of Kevin Mirallas but the Everton man fires wildy over the bar after a pull back from Leighton Baines.

Former Tottenham manager David Pleat at White Hart Lane
BBC Radio 5 live

"Romelu Lukaku is up front with Ross Barkley, Samuel Eto'o and Kevin Mirallas playing off him. But the left-side of defence could be the problem area for Tottenham today, with Seamus Coleman making energetic runs at speed down the Everton right. And you can also expect Leighton Baines will join in from left-back too."

Tottenham really need a home win or else Emmanuel Adebayor will be ranting and raving about what a joy it is to play away. Spurs settle quickly.

White Hart Lane is bouncing. We're under way.

Image source, Reuters

Everton manager Roberto Martinez speaking to Sky Sports: "Spurs have phenomenal individuals, and they are expected to be rated in the top four positions. Our performance against Wolfsburg was outstanding, so that creates a competition for places. It's great to see Baines and Barry back, and Pienaar on the bench. Barry is a great example of a professional player, and an incredible influence in the dressing room."

Image source, Getty Images

Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino speaking to Sky Sports: "It's very tough (today) but we need to be calm because we need to play to develop our game. We need to be together to create a good atmosphere for our players.

"The Europa League demands a lot, mentally and physically but today is an opportunity to play well, we have trained well, recovered well and we are in a good condition. Aaron Lennon has a lot of experience, has been here for a long time, we need to use him and Eriksen right to create chances."

Paul Murphy: That Tottenham line-up isn't filling me with confidence today. Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason in the middle with our best player on the left?

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Tottenham: Lloris, Chiriches, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies, Mason, Bentaleb, Lennon, Kane, Eriksen, Soldado. Subs: Kaboul, Paulinho, Lamela, Vorm, Dier, Dembele, Chadli.

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Besic, Barry, Mirallas, Eto'o, Barkley, Lukaku. Subs: Robles, Hibbert, McGeady, Atsu, Osman, Pienaar, Garbutt.

Referee: Michael Oliver

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, speaking to Sky Sports: "I am very pleased. We beat a very good team. They were second in the table and deserved that position. We played a very good game it was important to have a clean sheet again, they had just one chance in the 90 minutes and that is important for the trust in our team, and to score three goals against the best defence is also very important.

"I told the referee he must decide if it is a penalty or not, I was sure it was not yellow card. I know [Sergio Aguero], he does not try to cheat the referee. But after it was important to open the game, it was close in the first 45 minutes and we continued working as a team in defence and attack until we scored.

"[After Eliaquim Mangala being sent off and Vincent Kompany coming off injured] we don't have both but we have Martin Demichelis and Dedryck Boyata, who is working very well, and Bacary Sagna can also play centre-back.

"We cannot know if Vincent Kompany has a problem with his hamstring, we will see with the doctor tomorrow. It was a precaution, we will see if it is a cramp or injury."

Image source, Getty Images

Time to turn our attention to Tottenham against Everton. These two could yet face each other in Warsaw next May in the Europa League final!

More from Southampton manager Ronald Koeman to Sky Sports: "We know in three days we have to play Arsenal away. There is no time to be disappointed and that you have to learn about the mistakes. If you like to beat these big teams you have to play better. That is what I have said to the players."

It doesn't get any easier for Southampton. Their next two games? Arsenal away on Wednesday and Manchester United at home on 8 December. That's tough.

Image source, @everton

Everton on Twitter:, external Duncan Ferguson takes the Blues subs through their warm-up stretches.

Kick-off at White Hat Lane is just over 15 minutes away.

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman, talking to Sky Sports: "I'm disappointed because in the second half the beginning was a bit better than the start of the game. You know that if you do some mistakes you are punished for that. It was not good enough today and we have to realise that. The difference was the quality."

More from Frank Lampard to Sky Sports on reports that Manchester City's hierarchy would like to keep him beyond the end of his loan:

"I haven't spoken to them, I'm just concentrating week to week and I had an injury to get over. I don't know, its nice if they are saying that but we'll see what happens."

Abdul Said: Manchester City were six points behind Arsenal last season at this stage and managed to win it. Everything is possible this time again. Midweek and next weekend will confirm whether Saints are really ready for European football.

Jordan Cole: Beaten by the better team today. If Southampton want to get top six, they need to play a lot better.

Lewis Longman: This season Saints have played three games against what can be classed as serious opponents and lost all three. Top four? I doubt it.

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Manchester City's Frank Lampard speaking to Sky Sports: "We all look at tables during the week, and we are disappointed with where we are for a club like City, but we have to keep winning, keep moving forwards and go game by game."

Image source, Getty Images

Former England captain Gary Lineker
BBC Sport

"I think Frank Lampard has been rather better value for money for Manchester City than Eliaquim Mangala."

Steve Claridge
BBC Radio 5 live

"This is a performance that has put Manchester City back in the title race. There is a bit of life left in this league. There was a really lovely balance to the team that finished the game - a really imposing side that works hard. Sometimes City can be a little bit loose, and they don't seem to be able to control games in the same way Chelsea do, but nobody was a passenger today."

Matt Price: Poor Southampton. It's not been their day. Then again, Manchester City are champions for a reason.

Aashish: Think Southampton gave City too much respect to start with, bad day at the office but expect them to bounce back.

Stefan Rice: Poor from Southampton. A man up but lost all accountability in defence. Not a good start to a very tough month.

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