L. Vietto enters the game and replaces T. Cairney.
R. Sessegnon enters the game and replaces K. McDonald.
64'
S. Long enters the game and replaces C. Austin.
62'
K. McDonald gets yellow.
40'
J. Ward-Prowse has scored a goal for Southampton!
23'
Oriol Romeu has scored a goal for Southampton!
GOOOOOAAALLL!!! SOUTHAMPTON 1-0 FULHAM! Bertrand's teasing cross from the left deserves more than just a corner, but it ultimately leads to Southampton's breakthrough as Romeu thumps a half-volley through a sea of bodies from 22 yards. Rico punches the set-piece straight to the midfielder and he hits it straight back where it came from to give the home side the lead.
22'
Bertrand gets caught pondering on the ball and gives it away. From their next attack, Redmond shoots from 27 yards but the ball loops into the air and is gathered by Rico - it was going wide, anyway. That all came about as a result of Babel losing the ball.
20'
Fulham have started to play through the lines a lot more over the past few minutes. Anguissa is getting more involved in the match, looking for Babel and Cairney in the final third, though the final ball is still lacking at both ends of the field.
18'
BETTER FROM FULHAM! Chambers twists his body at the end of a good passing move, but his shot from the edge of the box deflects wide of the target. Still, that is a lot better from Fulham and they have their first corner, which is easily dealt with.
16'
NO GOAL! A low-quality game could perhaps have been expected today - both sides are in the bottom three, after all - and that has proved to be the case so far. Austin gets the ball in the back of the net, but he barged into Rico and the referee was always going to award a free-kick.
15'
Austin stamps on the boot of Anguissa and the referee spots it. It is just a talking to for the Southampton striker, however, rather than a booking.
Minute
Description
13'
Redmond is drifting all over the pitch and is even dropping deep to pick up the ball. Fulham are struggling to handle his movement at the moment and Odoi is going to need to help down the right.
12'
It's Fulham's turn to enjoy a spell on the ball, working it from left to right and then back to the left. Rather disappointingly, though, the attack breaks down before it gets anywhere near the opposition box.
9'
Southampton have dominated possession early on and they are getting the ball into some dangerous positions. Ranieri's side seem happy to soak up the pressure for the time being.
7'
It appears as though Redmond will be used alongside Austin rather than at wing-back, with Bertrand and Valery being used on either flank. A throughball towards Redmond is overhit and goes behind for a goal-kick.
6'
SHOT! Redmond already looks like he is in the mood today. The wideman is given the chance to cut inside by Chambers and he does exactly that, but he curls the ball high over Rico's crossbar from the first shot of the game.
4'
Redmond, being used at left wing-back today, powers forward down Southampton's left but Chambers gets across to concede a corner. The set-piece is cleared behind and Ward-Prowse cannot get it past the first man from his next attempt.
2'
The two captains were deep in discussion with the referee Anthony Taylor before kick-off. That is presumably down to a number of the floodlights not being fully operational - one to keep an eye on.
1'
Southampton get us underway in this huge clash at the bottom end of the Premier League!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Premier League meeting between Southampton and Fulham at St Mary's Stadium.
This is a huge clash at the bottom of the division, with both sides starting the day in the bottom three. Southampton require a point to climb above Cardiff City into 17th place, whereas Fulham are at risk of being cut adrift as they are eight points off safety with this game in hand to play.
Southampton have lost back-to-back matches, including a 2-1 defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Cardiff here in their most recent home outing, and they face Manchester United and Tottenham in their next two games. Three points today are vital, then, as Ralph Hasenhuttl attempts to take a big step towards pulling off the job he was brought in to do - keeping his side in the top flight. Fulham head into the match on the back of six losses in their last seven, meanwhile, and another defeat today will surely bring an end to Claudio Ranieri's hopes of keeping the club in the division.
Southampton subs: Stuart Armstrong, Matt Targett, Sam Gallagher, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Shane Long, Alex McCarthy, Jack Stephens.
SOUTHAMPTON (3-5-1-1): Angus Gunn; Jan Bednarek, Maya Yoshida, Jannik Vestergaard; Yan Valery, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (c), Ryan Bertrand; Nathan Redmond; Charlie Austin.
FULHAM XI (4-3-3): Sergio Rico; Denis Odoi, Havard Nordtveit, Tim Ream, Joe Bryan; Calum Chambers, Kevin McDonald, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa; Tom Cairney (c), Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ryan Babel.
Fulham subs: Floyd Ayite, Fabri, Lazar Markovic, Ibrahima Cisse, Luciano Vietto, Ryan Sessegnon, Cyrus Christie.
The two teams are now out on the field at St Mary's Stadium and we are moments away from kick-off.
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