Southampton v Bournemouth: Premier League – live!

38 min Bournemouth break agian, with King’s shot deflecting behind for a corner. Their purpose and precision on the counter-attack have been superb.

37 min: Ramsdale makes a vital save from Hojbjerg! Redmond’s cutback ricocheted around the box before falling to Hojbjerg in the six-yard box. He hit the ball first time, but Ramsdale made himself big to smother the shot.

That was a lovely team goal. Rico fizzed a pass out to Callum Wilson on the left. He played in the underlapping Billing and charged into the area for the return. Billing pulled the ball back towards Wilson, Callum I think, but Harry Wilson got there first to clip a precise first-time shot into the far corner. Excellent finish.

Bournemouth go 2-0 up for the second time!

33 min This is a very open game. Southampton are having most of the ball, but Bournemouth look dangerous on the counter-attack. Rico’s corner from the right is punched behind by Gunn for another corner, this time on the left…

29 min Redmond plays a crisp pass across the line of the penalty area to Hojbjerg, whose shot is blocked by Stacey. He could, probably should have played a reverse pass to the overlapping Cedric, who would have been through on the left of the area.

26 min That’s when VAR works perfectly, because it’s an objective judgement.

Yes, it’s been disallowed. It was a beautiful finish from King, swept into the far corner from Solanke’s pass. But replays showed he was just offside.

Bournemouth go two up with a superb goal!

22 min “Evening Rob!” says Hubert O’Hearn. “You know what football lacks? Great nicknames. How on earth has Kevin Danso not been re-named as Tiny, or Ryan ‘House of’ Fraser? The one I really want is Harry ‘Prime Minister’ Wilson. (Yeah, it’s been a long week.)

Don’t forget the old favourites – ‘One Size’ Fitz Hall and Kiki ‘Chris’ Musampa.

21 min Southampton are playing at a furious pace, even by their standards.

20 min Lerma is booked for taking Hojbjerg out off the ball.

19 min Boufal surges down the inside-left channel, away from Billing, only to mishit a tame shot through to Ramsdale. He looks lively, though, as he did in Southampton’s last home fixture against Manchester United.

16 min King leads a Bournemouth break, haring down the left before crossing low towards Callum Wilson. Vestegaard makes an important interception.

15 min Replays show there was a slight push on Danso, who was challenging the goalscorer Ake, by Callum Wilson. It might have been a foul, but I don’t think it crossed the VAR threshold.

14 min “On that goal,” says Mary Waltz, “Southampton looked like they were watching a movie rather than playing a match.”

13 min Southampton look thoroughly affronted at going behind. Boufal plays a one-two with Adams and hits a sudden shot from 25 yards that is blocked by Cook.

Bournemouth take the lead! It was a simple goal: Rico’s inswinging corner from the right, and an emphatic downward header from Ake on the six-yard line.

9 min Southampton, as is their wont, are giving Bournemouth no time whatsoever on the ball. But Stacey combines neatly with Harry Wilson to win the first corner.

6 min Cedric’s speculative cutback is screwed wide of the far post by Ward-Prowse, arriving late in the box. It was a tricky chance as it bounced just in front of him, and he couldn’t steer it on target.

5 min It’s been a frantic start, as you’d expect. Nothing to report as yet.

2 min Southampton’s full-backs have swapped, with Danso on the right and Cedric on the left. I suppose that’s because of Bournemouth’s inverted wide players.

1 min Peep peep! Bournemouth get the match under way. They are in their dark blue away strip; Southampton are wearing red and white.

The players emerge from the tunnel to flashing lights and dramatic music. There’s a cracking atmosphere.

The winner tonight, if there is one, will move to third in the table for the next 17 hours or so.

Southampton (4-2-2-2) Gunn; Danso, Bednarek, Vestegaard, Cedric; Romeu, Hojbjerg; Ward-Prowse, Boufal; Adams, Redmond.
Substitutes: McCarthy, Yoshida, Stephens, Bertrand, Armstrong, Long, Ings.

Bournemouth (4-2-2-2) Ramsdale; Stacey, S Cook, Ake, Rico; Billing, Lerma; H Wilson, King; C Wilson, Solanke.
Substitutes: Boruc, Simpson, Mepham, Surman, Ibe, L Cook, Fraser.

Referee Chris Kavanagh.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Southampton v Bournemouth from St Mary’s. The New Forest derby, as this is apparently known, is a bit of a newfangled rivalry. The two teams met only twice between 1960 and 2010, when they lived in different worlds, and overall this is only their 30th match.

Bournemouth, in fact, have never won away to Southampton – not at St Mary’s, not at the Dell, not even when they were called Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic.

The last eight meetings between these sides have occurred in the Premier League, though; and with Portsmouth still recovering from their big crash a decade ago, these two are fighting for supremacy on the south coast.

Bournemouth won that unofficial title in the last two seasons by finishing above Southampton. They are above Southampton now, too, albeit only on goals scores. Both teams have started the season pretty well and sit in the top half of the table.

These are two really likeable sides, with ambitious managers who play progressive football and want to achieve something more meaningful than simply preserving the status quo. The brilliant Eddie Howe has made all kinds of history at Bournemouth; tonight, there’s a chance to make some more.

Kick off is at 8pm BST.