Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League – live!

40 min “Southampton are having it all their own way in the middle,” says Matt Dony. “Tottenham look like they’re trying to play like good guys. Perhaps their coach could address that problem at half time? Maybe give them some suggestions on how they should behave instead?”

Does he do that a lot on the Amazon documentary?

39 min Djenepo plays in the overlapping Bertrand, whose cross is crucially claimed by the diving Lloris. Adams is then booked for stopping Lloris launching a counter-attack.

36 min Spurs started quite well but they have looked lifeless in the last 20 minutes or so. At the moment they bear almost no resemblance to the team that charmed everyone from 2015-19.

34 min “Always good to see a sash,” says Charles Antaki. “Southampton’s reproduces Peru’s second strip which reversed the classic Cubillas red-on-white. Or nearly; the angle is too steep. Harrumph.”

33 min There’s an argument Lloris shouldn’t have been beaten from such a tight angle. I’m not so sure – Ings’ finish was so fast and precise.

That was a majestic two-touch finish from Danny Ings! Walker-Peters, near the halfway line, clipped a precise long pass over Dier’s head towards Ings. He took it beautifully in his stride and then, from a very tight angle, rattled an instant shot into the far corner.

29 min Ings scurries dangerously into the area but then overhits a simple pass to Ward-Prowse on the left. After a slow start, Southampton are dominating the game.

29 min The lively Djenepo runs across the line of the penalty area and belts a shot that is blocked by Winks.

27 min: Another Kane goal is disallowed! But this might be overturned by VAR.

26 min: Djenepo hits the outside of the post! Ward-Prowse’s free-kick was headed away by Kane at the far post. It came to Djenepo, who whistled a low shot from 25 yards that hit the outside of the post and went behind. I think Lloris had it covered, though I’d like to see it again.

24 min “What is Dier doing?” says Yash Gupta. “He was literally in goal when Davies blocked the shot, shambolic.”

He did say he wanted to play further back this season.

23 min Both teams look dangerous going forward and less than secure at the back.

20 min A brilliant run from Djenepo leads to an almighty scramble in the Spurs area. Adams’ close-range shot is blocked almost on the line by Davies, and then Ward-Prowse’s follow-up is put behind for a corner.

Both teams have had a goal disallowed now. Adams flipped a great pass over the defence towards Ings. Lloris came out of his area, panicked and headed the ball onto Ings’ elbow. Ings picked up the loose ball and finished very confidently but replays confirmed it hit his elbow.

16 min: Ings has a goal disallowed for handball!

14 min It’s been a good start from Spurs, who look sharper than they did against Everton last week.

12 min McCarthy makes an excellent one-on-one save from Son, who was flagged offside after the event.

12 min “Why does everyone just shrug when a player is offside as Son was for the goal?” says Gary Naylor. “With his pace and a high pressing defence, he could be a yard off his marker, never mind half a step, and still be first to the ball. They know VAR will ping them if they’re a toenail off, so why don’t they give themselves a chance?”

Force of habit, I suspect, like bowlers who push the front line. You’re right though.

11 min Adams should probably have scored, but it was still a spectacular save from Lloris.

10 min: Great save from Lloris! Hojbjerg fouls Armstrong 25 yards from goal on he left. Bertrand’s free-kick hits a Spurs defender and falls perfectly for Adams, 10 yards out. He smashes the ball towards goal and Lloris throws out his right hand to make a brilliant reaction save.

8 min Southampton are struggling to play at their usual tempo, which can only be a fitness issue. At their best they are very uncomfortable to play against.

6 min That was such a smart finish from Kane, not that it counted for anything in the end.

5 min Romeu is booked for a foul on his old teammate Hojbjerg.

Son was fractionally offside, and that’s the end of that. Mourinho’s face is a picture.

Son’s cross from the left was slightly overhit, but Doherty kept it alive by heading the ball back into the middle. Kane reacted superbly, twisting his body to crack a volley that went through McCarthy.

This might be VARed – they are checking whether Son was offside.

Spurs score with their first attack!

Jose Mourinho’s pre-match thoughts

[What difference can Gareth Bale make?] “Today, nothing, because he’s not here. The only thing that matters for me today is to try to get the result we want. [Is Dele Alli unfit?] No. We have a huge squad, with numbers that are very difficult to manage. I don’t like it and it’s not easy for me to pick 18 players. We have too many players for some positions and some of them are paying the price for this.”

Dele Alli isn’t even on the bench for Spurs. He’s not injured, unless you count wounded pride.

Southampton (4-2-2-2) McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Romeu; Armstrong, Djenepo; Adams, Ings.
Substitutes: Forster, Vestergaard, Vokins, Smallbone, Long, Obafemi, Tella.

Spurs (4-3-3) Lloris; Doherty, Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Hojbjerg, Winks, Ndombele; Lucas Moura, Kane, Son.
Substitutes: Hart, Alderweireld, Aurier, Lamela, Sissoko, Lo Celso, Bergwijn.

Referee David Coote.

He’s back! And he’s not playing! Gareth Bale’s signing was not registered in time for him to take part in Spurs’ trip to Southampton today, though he has still dominated the pre-match chatter. It’s almost a shame there’s a football match to get in the way of more talk about what Bale might achieve when he starts playing in football matches for Spurs again.

Both teams started the Premier League season with 1-0 defeats, Southampton at Crystal Palace and Spurs at home to Everton. A strong-looking Southampton side was then beaten at home by Brentford in the Carabao Cup, while Spurs edged past Lokomotiv Plovdiv in their Europa League qualifier. Ralph Hasenhuttl and Jose Mourinho have both bemoaned their teams’ fitness levels, and neither can really afford another defeat today. In the Premier League you’re never far away from a perceived crisis, with or without Gareth Bale.

Kick off 12pm.