Remember that game when we annoyed the opposition striker so much that he only scored once?

What a time to be alive.

The Toffees have served the thinnest of gruel this season like, so you have to take your pleasures where you find them. Liverpool being off-colour has had the additional bonus of allowing you to properly despise the bucket-hat bellends of the Etihad with renewed fervour, and so it was on Saturday when Manchester City’s featureless frontman Erling Haaland saw his arse with the returning Ben Godfrey. 

As expected, the Blues had to defend deep and frustrate the home team, and they showed throughout that they are still playing for their manager. Demarai Gray scored that absolutely ridiculous equaliser and left Josep Guardiola to do one of them weird refuse-to-look-directly-at-the-camera interviews that are always such an absolute joy to behold.

Sadly though, that result, while utterly thrilling on Saturday night, will be quickly forgotten if this team fail to impose themselves on a Brighton side that in some ways represents the antithetical approach to running a football club to that seen at Goodison in recent years. 

This new manager has continued the sterling work of Graham Potter – presumably because their board had a succession plan in place to get someone to do just that – and they continue to look an extremely well-coached team who are capable of embarrassing anyone on their day.

There are no doubts about Frank Lampard’s ability to get his team geed up for a defensive shift against City, for instance, but where there are questions they concern controlling games and taking the initiative in attack. 

This is a massive test then, make no mistake, and still has the potential to decide Lampard’s fate as Everton manager.