Arsenal are camped in so deep. Happy to let Everton have the ball for the time being.

Ben Kellow: I cant believe everyone is giving Arteta a pass. He's been woeful look where Arsenal are in the table. I'm shocked he's still in a job.

Well played Abdoulaye Doucoure. I thought he'd got himself into a cul-de-sac, surrounded by Arsenal players tight to the touchline but he manages to nutmeg one man and carry Everton forward another 40-ish yards before winning a throw. Smart signing.

Alex Iwobi runs at the Arsenal defence but he's herded into traffic against his old club and loses the ball. Iwobi is on the right of a front three this evening.

All Everton so far. And how about this for the earliest criticism of a team this season:

Shaun Forster: One year ago this weekend, I watched Everton v Arsenal over lunch in a bar before crossing the road to St James’ for Toon v Palace. Two of the worst games I’ve ever seen, but oh what I’d give to go back to that moment now...and bet on Arteta being sacked before Brucey.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison link up well on the left wing and the Icelander whips in a cross - beyond all in the middle though.

Arsenal, in their kitchen worktop away kit, get us under way.

Here they come, all set?

A recap of the team news, Pickford IN, Aubameyang OUT.

Fans at Southampton, and there are fans inside Goodison as well. Plenty of Christmas jumpers on display as the sides gather in the tunnel.

Manchester City

Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling speaking to Amazon Prime: "It was a tough one, we know how difficult it has been in the past couple of weeks. We’re happy with the three points. We had words with ourselves, we dug deep – we need to be competing in every game.

"What’s let us down has been our aggression, we are normally aggressive on the front foot and that’s when we play at our best.

"I constantly look at myself, I know I‘ve not been at the level I need to be. It’s football, it is unpredictable and that’s why we love it. Sometimes you just have to dig deep. There is a real team spirit, we try to stay compact and see games through. This was a step in the right direction, we don’t look to the title, just win our next games."

On what it was like to have fans in the ground:

"It felt real again to hear the noise and hear people, it was really nice."

Manchester City

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola told MOTD: "We had the momentum in the second half, but we couldn’t score and we nearly suffered.

"They put a lot of players inside; they provoke you to be narrow. It’s difficult. They don’t allow you to be compact, that’s why they are so good. That’s why they’re creating problems.

"They have the best free-kick taker I have seen in my life in [James] Ward-Prowse. Their position in the table, Ralph [Hasenhuttl] is doing an excellent job.

"It’s a good result for us, it will help us a lot going into our EFL Cup game.

"Defensively we were excellent. Last season we struggled a lot. Ruben [Dias] has helped us a lot. John [Stones] the last few games has been exceptional.

"We continue to play more and more to create more chances.

"I’m jealous of Southampton, they can have supporters, we cannot. Everyone can agree we’d love to have fans back. But we have to be alert. We have to be careful."

A home win would take Everton second - it's so tight in that pack behind leaders Liverpool.

Karen Carney
Former England and Chelsea winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

It's funny, John Stones and Ruben Dias are absolutely ecstatic but the forwards of Manchester City look miserable! It really was a case of superb defence from City today but the decision making of the frontline really poor.

Southampton, we expected to deliver in terms of intensity and pressing but they did not cause Ederson any issues at all. I can't remember them hitting the target or testing him in any way.

Credit goes to Manchester City's defensive display today because it was spot on.

Manchester City

Manchester City goalscorer Raheem Sterling told MOTD: "It was a tough game, they’ve been doing really well in recent weeks. The message today was to show passion. Show aggression and I think we’ve done that.

"I’m happy to be on the scoresheet but the most important thing was to grind the result out.

"You’ve got to concede as few as possible. We’ve done that, we’ve just got to score a few more at the other end.

"Confidence is a key thing. (Southampton) are very confident at the moment. We’ve boosted our confidence and we’re getting back to a high level.

"We know what we can do on the attacking front. I and a few other attackers need to step up. Hopefully we can do that in the next weeks."

On fixture congestion: "We’re footballers, this is how we like it, we want game after game. I’m happy to play again tomorrow."

Richard Browne: Arsenal have looked clueless, it doesn't take any more transfer windows to know Mikel Arteta is utterly out of his depth.

Arsenal

And it's also a year this week since Arsenal appointed their former captain Mikel Arteta as head coach on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

Thoughts?

Image source, BBC Sport