Both sides are wearing black armbands in memory of former England international and Arsenal coach Don Howe 

Nice touch.

A handshake between Arsene Wenger and Ronald Koeman on the sidelines, a huddle of Saints on the pitch and we are under way.

Steve Claridge
BBC Radio 5 Live at St Mary's

"I've been impressed with Arsenal, especially as they have six or seven players unavailable. They played Man City fantastically, tactically they played the system Arsene asked of them very well."

You can tune in to 5 live commentary via the play icon at the top of this page.

Image source, bbc

It is 'man versus machine' this week. Our man Mark Lawrenson takes on a state-of-the-art super-computer called SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) in his weekly prediction game - find out here what they have plumped for.  

Jose Fonte munches down a pre-match flapjack as he waits for the Arsenal team to join his own in the St Mary's Stadium tunnel.

Here comes Per Mertesacker...

Both teams sporting trackie tops as they stride out onto the playing surface.

Image source, BBC Sport

Arsenal might fancy their chances of winning the Premier League title - but they are way off the pace in our Predictor league table.

Gunners fans are eighth in our standings, with Southampton supporters down in 14th place. You can help improve your team's form by having your say in our Predictor game.

You can also check out the Predictor league table and see whether your predictions are better than Mark Lawrenson's guesses.

What are you waiting for? Get involved.

This fella has been whipping up the St Mary's Stadium crowd.

Sammy Saint is an energetic presence, with some smart dancefloor paws.

But would he win a dance-off with the Gunnersaurus?, external

It would be a contest I'd pay to see.

Image source, Getty Images

Steve Wilson
MOTD commentator at St Mary's

"On Christmas Day in 2014, Southampton were fifth in the table, two points better off than Arsenal in sixth. A year on and Arsenal are 15 points ahead of the Saints as they head to St Mary's Stadium, where they last won back in 2003. 

"Arsenal's win over Manchester City was a huge psychological boost, and makes them the bookies favourites to haul in Leicester and win the title. 

"Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has described the next fortnight as crucial. They've scored only twice in their last five league games and taken only one point. It's left Koeman glancing nervously over his shoulder at the scrap below."

Jason Roberts
Former West Brom striker on Football Focus

"There's no doubt that Petr Cech is making a difference to Arsenal this season. At just 14 goals conceded they've got best defence in the Premier League. What a springboard that is to be able to attack from.

"Arsenal are a team in form, and if you look at their squad I really think they should go on to win the league this year. Whether they will is in doubt because they haven't done it for so long."

Southampton make four changes from the team that lost 2-0 to Tottenham last time out with Graziano Pelle and Cedric Soares out injured and Cuco Martina coming in for a first start.

Arsenal meanwhile are unchanged from the side that beat Manchester City 2-1 on Monday as Olivier Giroud continues up front and Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey are paired in the centre of midfield.

Image source, Getty Images

Roll up, roll up. All aboard Monsieur Wenger's roller-coaster, where the next stop might be top of the league.

After Leicester's defeat at Anfield today, the Gunners will go top of the pile with victory over Southampton this evening.

They would be one point clear of the Foxes, four ahead of Manchester City, seven clear of Tottenham, 10 in front of Manchester United.

Their best chance yet of winning the league since their last triumph in 2003-04?

It might just be...

A bad start..

Image source, Getty

A strong October...

Image source, Getty Images

A poor November...

Image source, Getty Images

and a happy New Year?

Welcome to our live page for Southampton v Arsenal. We’ll have text commentary here from 19:15 GMT. You can keep up to date with the rest of today's games here.