Southampton vs Tottenham: Premier League – live | Premier League

16 mins: Martin has substituted Sulemana for Wood-Gordan, who switches to a three-man chain. I’m not sure that will make a difference. Some fans are apparently already leaving.

14 mins: That’s embarrassing. Russell Martin looks intently at a screen in front of him, but that’s just poor defense. Son once again had the freedom of St. Mary’s. The cross was not dealt with and there was no one in red and white to stop Kulusevski from scoring Tottenham’s third.

GOAL! Southampton 0-3 Tottenham (Kulusevski, 14)

13 minutes: This is now a mountain to climb for the home side and their boss could be out tomorrow morning. They seemed so passive, so weak. That long-range cross went unstopped and the only man paying attention was Son. The Southampton defenders were asleep.

GOAL! Southampton 0-2 Tottenham (son, 12)

11 mins: Southampton coughs up possession too easily. Despite the five-man midfield, there is no structure and Spurs can apply pressure and push back at will. Kulusevski drifts from his wing and crosses the defensive line.

9 mins: Sarr catches Son with a cracking cross-field ball. Spence is in support and then Kulusevski fires a low cross on the overlap to the left that bounces towards the corner. Quick work from the men in powder blue. The corner routine didn’t quite work, but Spurs got it back and Son shot from the left side of the box. Straight to McCarthy, but things are looking bleak for the home side.

7 mins: An advance by Walker-Peters from the right into the penalty area is too deep and Tottenham clears up. So far they seem to be less rushed on the ball than the Saints. It already feels like the home team is chasing. A fierce late attack from Aribo catches Maddison and the goalscorer falls to the ground clutching his ankle.

5 minutes: Spence beats a tackler on the right side. What a dream first start this will be. A throw down the left wing sends Sulemana darting into the Tottenham penalty area, but he is able to keep the ball away.

3 minutes: Southampton look scared. Manning commits a soft foul at halftime. They have to pull themselves together, but here comes Son on the left and combines with Maddison. Gray and Sarr on the ball. The spurs look good.

1 minute: Wow! What a goal. Spence, making his first start for Spurs, collected the ball from the corner, then drove and slotted a wonderful ball in for Maddison, who kept his composure and fired the ball into the goal. Fantastic movement without the ball and a really good finish.

GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Tottenham (Maddison, 1)

Let’s go! Saints in their classic red and white, Spurs in baby blue.

This has a bit of a desperate feel to it. Both of TNT’s managers did their best to hide their fear (at least that’s my pop psychology). They know that the ice beneath their feet is getting thinner.

The players now make their way out of the tunnel. All the noise, all the pressure, all the injuries and failures, it could be anything.

The young Tyler Dibling is receiving a lot of praise in advance. The 18-year-old is apparently on Manchester United’s radar, with rumors that an offer worth £21 million is on the table.

Russell Martin says he worked on “a lot of things” this week. That’s encouraging.

Ange Postecoglou says he needs “another performance from us that reflects the type of football we want to play.”

The Southampton boss looks quicker of the two.

Ivan Victor wrote and questioned some of my wording:

“Perhaps this is pedantic (I don’t think so), with eight or nine injured players and a bench of five academy players it is difficult to choose the preferred starting XI.”

No, I don’t think that’s being pedantic, Ivan. I think that’s completely fair. You’re right, it wasn’t ideal for Big Ange.

History is not on Southampton’s side.

They have won just one of their last eight games against Tottenham in all competitions, with three draws and four defeats.

But we should expect goals. A total of 16 goals were scored in the last three meetings between these two.

Perhaps the best statistic is that Southampton have scored in each of their last 15 league games against Spurs. Fifteen!

My colleague Luke McLaughlin wrote this week that Spurs’ style seems incongruous.

Using the 4-3 home defeat to Chelsea as an example, he asked: “Is it sustainable to play at full strength all season, as if the bell is about to ring at the end of the lunch break?”

It is not the first time that this has been requested from a Postecoglou team. However, I wonder if Tottenham’s fans would accept anything other than swashbuckling forward footballers?

Big Ange doesn’t hold back. After criticizing Timo Werner for saying the German’s performance against Rangers this week was “unacceptable”, the Tottenham manager claimed he has no time for “bruised egos”.

It’s a heavy approach, but perhaps that’s what’s necessary. A little kick back to kick-start a turbulent season.

We’ll find out if it worked.

Tottenham team

Southampton team

preamble