Bournemouth vs Southampton: Premier League – live | Premier League

13 mins: A long ball from Southampton (!) and almost a chance for the guests! Dibling grabs a hopeful punt and does a good job of controlling the bouncing ball. The teenager manages to get past Senesi before being brought down, but referee Michael Oliver doesn’t award a foul! I find that a bit harsh!

11 mins: Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie and Southampton’s Flynn Downes clash on the edge of the visitors’ box. They both have a limp, but I think it will be okay for both of them to carry on.

9 minutes: “Hello from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson via email. “I am intrigued by the idea of ​​the Netherlands joining the USA’s group at the 2026 World Cup and a clash between the two coaches whose successive tenures represented the pinnacle of Southampton’s Premier League success over the last decade (Koeman and Pochettino). By the way, Adam Lallana, the team captain during the Saints era, was 10 months old when Tyler Dibling was born. Could it be some kind of record with that assist-goal combination last week?”

This could be something for the knowledge, Eric. I suspect that there are many goals where the age difference between the assist-goal combination is larger.

7 minutes: Another good counter-attack from Saints, at the end of which Fraser fires a long-range shot and Kepa pushes to the right. The Spaniard actually loses the ball, but there is no Southampton player there to catch the rebound. Cornet was unaware of this, perhaps a natural striker would have struck.

4 minutes: Ugochukwu breaks forward for Southampton on the left and pulls a wobbling cross from the baseline back to the edge of the D. Cornet is there and shoots wildly at Kepa, but the ball flies just wide! Replays show a crucial block from Senesi’s head, although I’m not sure how much the Argentine knew about it! Southampton have certainly started stronger.

2 minutes: Ryan Fraser, playing on the left wing for Southampton, takes his first touch of the ball and is loudly booed by the home crowd. This will be the Scot’s first return to this stadium since leaving Bournemouth for Newcastle in 2020.

Peeeeeeeeep! And here we go.

The teams are out! Bournemouth is their home kit with the black and red stripes, Southampton in a vibrant, bright away number.

A reminder that Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is serving a sideline ban tonight. He will be watching from the stands.

Tyler Dibling is Southampton’s worst kept secret. The 18-year-old winger looks special, and not just because he wears his socks lower than Jack Grealish. Dibling scored a great goal in the 1-1 draw with Ipswich after a lovely pass from Adam Lallana and also won a penalty in the defeat to Manchester United. I’m really looking forward to seeing him tonight.

And if we mention Manchester Unitedthis is worth reading:

Graham Potterformer Brighton and Chelsea coach and Sky Sports’ guest pundit on MNF this evening, has just done a very poor job of distancing himself from the permanent England job, with Lee Carsley currently only in the interim management position.

He is also asked if he has had talks with Manchester United.

I would take everything in the media with a grain of salt. I seem to be the only manager to be linked with Stoke City and Napoli in the same week. I have had many conversations with many people. I think it’s best if I keep these conversations private.

Southampton have only taken one point from their first five gamesdespite having an average of 60% possession in these games. What is heartening for Saints fans is the fact that there are only two teams in Premier League history that have been defeated by a possession average of more than 50%: Wigan in 2012-13 under Bobby Martínez and Birmingham in 2005-06 Steve Bruce.

This suggests that it is not the system that is Southampton’s problem. But it’s still early. This is a huge game for them and Russell would certainly have targeted it as a rare away game that is very winnable.

That’s not an exaggeration that Russell Martin’s Southampton squad is amazing tonight. No strikers, but five of them on the bench, with only one defender next to them. Will Ryan Fraser, the 5ft 4in Scottish dynamo, take over? Or will it be Maxwel Cornet, on loan from West Ham who hasn’t played a Premier League game since January but is in the starting line-up tonight? Aaron Ramsdale, perhaps less surprisingly, starts against his former team.

Bournemouth have changed a few things since the defeat at Anfield but their XI is more or less what you would expect. Adam Smith comes into the team tonight to replace Araujo and captain Bournemouth. What a servant the Englishman has been for the club. Meanwhile, Evanilson is still searching for his first Cherries goal.

The teams!

preamble