Southampton vs Tottenham LIVE: Team news, line-ups and more ahead of Premier League fixture today

Tottenham fell to a 1-0 defeat the last time they travelled to St Mary’s on New Year’s Day, with Danny Ings scoring the game’s only goal.

There’ll be a big effort to avoid a repeat of that result today, you’d imagine. Jose Mourinho will not want to start off the campaign with back-to-back league defeats.

Bale, of course, began his career at Southampton, so that adds another element to the narrative. It would have been better had he been able to play this afternoon, but his first appearance back in the Premier League will have to wait.

Gareth Bale on returning to Spurs: “It’s nice to be back. It’s such a special club to me, it’s where I made my name. What an amazing club, amazing fans, just incredible to be back. 

“Hopefully now I can get some match fitness and get under way and really help the team, and hopefully win trophies.

“Of course, I think – as I said – it’s such a special club, I always thought that one day when I did leave [Real Madrid] I would love to come back. The opportunity now has arisen and I feel like it’s a good fit, it’s a good time to me. I’m hungry, I’m motivated, I wanna do well for the team. I can’t wait to get started."

If Spurs fans are feeling a little underwhelmed by the start to the season, yesterday’s news will have improved things just a little.

Gareth Bale is back…

Southampton make two changes from the side that lost against Crystal Palace last weekend. Moussa Djenepo and Stuart Armstrong replace Will Smallbone and Nathan Redmond in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s starting XI.

For Spurs, the big news is the absence of Dele Alli. Tanguy Ndombele is rewarded with a start after his exploits against Lokomotiv Plovdiv last week, and Lucas Moura and Harry Winks also come in.