7 min: Another good counter attack, at the end of which Fraser laces a long-range shot, with Kepa forced down to his right. The Spaniard actually spills the ball, but no Southampton is there to mop up the rebound. Cornet was not alert to it, perhaps a natural striker would have pounced.

4 min: Ugochukwu breaks forward on the left for Southampton and pulls a bobbling cross back from the byline towards the edge of the D. Cornet is there, and fires fiercely at Kepa, but the ball flies just wide! Replays show a crucial block off Senesi’s head, although I’m not sure how much the Argentinian knew about it! Southampton have certainly started the stronger.

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

Peeeeeeeeeep! And away we go.

The teams are out! Bournemouth is their home black and red stripes, Southampton in a lively, florescent away number.

A reminder that Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is serving a touchline ban tonight. He’ll be watching on from the stands.

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

And if we’re mentioning Manchester United, this is worth a read:

Graham Potter, former Brighton and Chelsea manager and Sky Sports’ guest pundit tonight on MNF, has just done a very bad job of distancing himself from the permanent England vacancy, with Lee Carsley just in interim charge at the moment.

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

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

Southampton have just one point from their first five games, despite having an average of 60% possession across those games. What is heartening for Saints fans is that there are just two teams in Premier League history that have gone down with more than 50% possession average: Wigan 2012-13 under Bobby Martínez and Birmingham 2005-06 under Steve Bruce.

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

It is not an exaggeration to say that Russell Martin’s Southampton squad tonight is astounding. No strikers but five of them on the bench, alongside just one defender. Will Ryan Fraser, the 5ft4in Scottish dynamo, lead the line? Or will it be Maxwel Cornet, on loan from West Ham, who hasn’t started a Premier League game since January but is in the XI tonight. Aaron Ramsdale, perhaps less astoundingly, starts against his former team.

Bournemouth have tinkered a few things since their defeat at Anfield but their XI is more or less as you would expect. Adam Smith comes into the side for Araujo and captains Bournemouth tonight. What a servant the Englishman has been for the club. Evanilson, meanwhile, is still looking for his first Cherries goal.

The teams!

Preamble