Tottenham will be keen to lay down a scorer when they take on Southampton in their first game of the season this weekend live on talkSPORT.
Spurs returned to the Champions League after finishing fourth last season and will be hoping for another exciting campaign.
Antonio Conte brought in a host of new signings this summer, including Richarlison and Ivan Perisic to bolster his squad.
But it will be key men Harry Kane and Son Heung-min who will most relish returning to action against Southampton.
Only Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole have scored more or as many Premier League goals against the Saints as the Tottenham pair.
And Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side haven’t had the best of pre-seasons, with just one win in four games, including a 2-1 loss to Villarreal last time out.
Tottenham v Southampton: commentary from talkSPORT
This Premier League match will take place on Saturday August 6th.
talkSPORT 2 will have exclusive live coverage of the match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which kicks off at 3pm.
Dan Windle will be your presenter while commentary will come from Ian Danter and former Arsenal winger Perry Groves.
To tune into talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 via the website click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen through the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
Tottenham v Southampton: Team news
Richarlison will have to wait to make his competitive debut for the hosts due to his ban for his infamous flare-throwing incident at the end of the previous campaign while at Everton.
But both Perisic and Yves Bissouma will push for a few minutes, with Dejan Kulusevski linking up with Kane and Son in attack.
As for Southampton, Fraser Forster left St Mary’s to join Spurs while Armando Broja also returned to parent club Chelsea.
Gavin Bazunu has arrived from Manchester City and could start between the sticks with Joe Aribo in line to make his first official start for the club.
Tottenham v Southampton: what was said?
Conte: “Of course we want to continue to improve, to build something important for this club.
“If the idea continues like this, there will be no problem to continue my life at Tottenham because I stay well and I like this group of players and I have a good relationship with Paratici and with Daniel Levy.
Hasenhuttl said: “I think we should look at all the performances we’ve had so far in pre-season.
“We have to find the right team and we will be sure to find a competitive team against Tottenham.”
Tottenham v Southampton: Match Facts
- Tottenham’s new signing Ivan Perisic was involved in nine goals in his last 10 league games for Inter Milan last season (3 goals, 6 assists). At 33 years and 185 days, a goal in this match would make the Croatian the second-oldest player to score on his Premier League debut, after only Zlatan Ibrahimovic (34 years 316 days).
- Son Heung-min, winner of the Premier League Golden Boot last season, has scored 12 goals in his last 10 league games for Tottenham. He is also the Premier League’s overall top scorer at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, scoring 30 goals on the ground.
- Only Alan Shearer (14) and Andrew Cole (11) have scored more or as many Premier League goals against Southampton as Tottenham pair Harry Kane (11) and Son Heung-min (10).
- Southampton have won two of their last three away league matches in London (L1), which is as many as they have won in their previous 19 in the capital (D6 L11). One of those two wins came at Spurs, with Southampton last winning back-to-back league visits against Lilywhites in January 1971.
- Southampton have won just one of their last 12 league games (D2 L9), beating Arsenal 1-0 in April. Saints have lost each of their last four Premier League games, with the last losing longer in January/February 2021 (6).
- It is Tottenham’s first Premier League home game on Saturday at 3pm in 973 days, since beating Burnley 5-0 in December 2019. It is the first time they have started a Premier League campaign League in this launch slot since 2001-02, a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.
- Of current Premier League sides, Southampton are on the longest winless streak in their first Premier League matches of the season (P8 D4 L4), losing all three under current manager Ralph Hasenhüttl. Indeed, the Austrian has the worst 100% losing record in the first games of Premier League seasons, along with Danny Wilson.
- Tottenham Hotspur have won their first league game in six of the last nine seasons (D1 L2), having won their first league game in just three of their 16 seasons before this run.
- Southampton have won just three of their last 20 Premier League away matches against Tottenham Hotspur (D2 L15), winning that exact match last season. In fact, they have lost more Premier League away matches to Spurs (17) than to any other team in the competition’s history.
- It will be Tottenham Hotspur’s fourth time opening a league campaign against Southampton, with the Lilywhites winning two and drawing the previous three games – although this is the first to be played in London.
The Premier League is back and talkSPORT has it covered, with games on Friday, Saturday and Monday, starting with Crystal Palace against Arsenal on August 5
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