SOU vs CRY
Match Centre

Southampton substitution: Callum Slattery replaces Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

Last roll of the dice here as Slattery comes on for Højbjerg.

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Sakho skies from six yards

What a chance for Palace. Sakho powers onto Milivojevic's corner but somehow puts his header over the bar from six yards out.

GAME ON!

TEN minutes to find a winner. Saints have dominated this half and with the noise cranked up, have the chance to put Palace under some real pressure now!

GOALSCORER 16 James Ward-Prowse

GOAL: Saints 1-1 Palace (Ward-Prowse)

GAME ON! Targett's low cross is SMASHED into the bottom corner by James Ward-Prowse! Three in three for JWP and we're right back in it!

Southampton substitution: Mohamed Elyounoussi replaces Jannik Vestergaard

Four at the back now for Saints as Elyounoussi replaces Vestergaard.

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Bednarek off the line!

Superb defending from Saints' star man tonight: Sakho flings a leg at a loose ball and his volley is goalbound before Bednarek gets back to head off the line. 

Armstrong curls off target

First real involvement for the Scottish sub as he drives inside from the flank and whips a shot past Guaita's far post. The Spaniard had it under control.

Saints lacking inspiration

Ralph Hasenhüttl's men have seen plenty of the ball since half-time but are struggling to trouble the yellow-shirted wall thrown up in front of them. We've got 25 minutes to find a way through...

Southampton substitution: Stuart Armstrong replaces Yan Valery

First change of the night and it's a tactical one for Saints as Armstrong takes the place of Valery.

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Yellow Card for Jan Bednarek (Southampton)

Bednarek cautioned for a crunching challenge on Zaha.

Goal disallowed for Palace

Mamadou Sakho has the ball in the net for the visitors but it won't count, a free kick is given instead for a push on Alex McCarthy.

Ings tests Guaita

We haven't seen much of Saints' number tonight but he bursts into life from nowhere here: Danny teases the backpeddling James Tomkins, checks back onto his left foot and stings the palms of Guaita with a firm, low shot. COME ON, SAINTS!

Back underway at St Mary's!

We've got 45 minutes to find a way back into this one...

Yellow Card for Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Southampton)

...and the Saints skipper follows him into the book for illegally halting Jordan Ayew's breakaway run through the middle. 

Vestergaard cross concerns Guaita

A fabulous cross into the box from Jannik Vestergaard almost finds the marauding Ward-Prowse who had slipped through the gasp of Sakho in the box. Guaita slides out to pinch the ball from his toes.

Midfield battle

Crystal Palace are just about edging this one so far in terms of possession and territory. The Saints skipper is becoming increasingly influential through the middle though, as shown by those two chances...

Guaita saves from Højbjerg

Ings dispossesses Sakho near the halfway line and suddenly it's two vs three at the back. The striker squares for Højbjerg whose shot is palmed by safety by Vicente Guaita. 

Højbjerg heads off Targett

Better from Saints who have had far more defending than attacking to do in these opening 20 minutes. Targett gets free down the left to cross for Pierre-Emile Højbjerg but the Dan can only glance his header harmlessly past the post. 

McArthur scoops wide

Saints look to have cut off all possible angles of escape for Wilfried Zaha down the left-hand side but the Ivorian manages to pick out McArthur in space who wastefully shoots wide. 

High and wild from Milivojevic

The ball is set back to the Serbian on the edge of the box but he can only sky his shot high into the stand behind Alex McCarthy's goal. 

YES, YAN VALERY!

A huge ovation for Yan Valery. The youngster is caught out by Milivojevic's pass in behind for Zaha but recovers brilliantly to dispossess the winger on the slide. 

Corner, corner, corner

Three set-pieces in succession for the Eagles, the last of which causes Alex McCarthy a bit of trouble as he comes out to catch but misses. It ends in a Saints goal kick.

Early Palace pressure

Eagles on the front-foot in these very early exchanges. Andros Townsend tests Yan Valery by trying to skip around the back and cross but the Frenchman is there to block and concede a corner,

SHOWTIME!

Saints get us started at St Mary's...COYR! 

Getting warm 🔥

....the lads will need it tonight. Arguably the coldest night of the season so far at St Mary's as both sides get a much needed warm-up in ahead of kick-off. 

it's a big game and we know how important it is for our season. we are looking forward to giving everything we have tonight.

yan valery

southampton fc

Pre-match homework!

Past encounters, previews from both managers, all the key stats and facts...it's all in our Match Pack in association with SportPesa! Get your last-minute pre-match reading in now!

No changing a winning team

Same line-up with the same result in mind. No changes for Saints who name an unchanged side for Crystal Palace tonight. Matt Targett had limped out of the win over Everton but has made a full recovery to keep his place. 

Crystal Palace XI vs Saints

CPFC: Guaita; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt; Zaha, Milivojevic, Kouyaté, McArthur, Townsend; Ayew. 

SAINTS XI TO FACE CRYSTAL PALACE

SAINTS: McCarthy; Valery, Stephens, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Targett; Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Højbjerg (c), Redmond; Ings.

SUBS: Gunn, Long, Elyounoussi, Gallagher, Armstrong, Slattery, Ramsay.

Saints vs Eagles: the omens are good...

Here's a pre-match stat for you: Southampton have beaten Crystal Palace 13 times in the Premier League era. Newcastle are the only side against which Saints have a better winning record... 

Saints Marching!

Suited, booted and ready for action. The lads are in the building which means tonight's team news is now just over 15 minutes away...

No stopping Nathan

Five goals and two assists for Nathan Redmond since the appointment of Ralph Hasenhüttl. The winger has been one of many to reap the rewards of Saints' upturn in form. Our key man again tonight?

we have taken two important wins against leicester and everton and now we will do everything to take a third. 

ralph hasenhüttl

southampton fc first team manager

All set at St Mary's

Just over two hours until showtime at St Mary's and everything is set for the arrival of tonight's teams. Expect images and video from that at just after 6pm...

Eye on the Opposition

You never quite know which Crystal Palace you are going to get. Roy Hodgson's men stunned Man City at the Etihad before pushing Liverpool all the way in a 4-3 defeat. They're in the last 16 of the FA Cup courtesy of a 2-0 win over Spurs but still sit on 22 points with an almost identical record to Saints. Football London's Robert Warlow gives us the lowdown on the Eagles here.

TEAM NEWS: Who's in and who's out?

Team news will be with us from around 6.45pm GMT this evening but a few hints were already dropped by Ralph Hasenhüttl earlier in the week. Ryan Bertrand is approaching a return in the next couple of weeks while Matt Targett is likely to keep his place after limping out of the win over Everton after just 40 minutes. 

Get the full round-up here! 

Hear from Hasenhüttl

Time on the training ground is very valuable commodity for Saints boss Ralph Hasenhüttl. 

The Austrian has had 10 days to prep his side for the game tonight and he told us how those plans have gone in his post-press conference briefing on Monday afternoon...

Flashback: Palace 0-2 Saints

It's the Eagles tonight for Saints, a team against which we can do the double this evening. Goals from Danny Ings and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg had us celebrating in the south London sunshine in September. Feels an awfully long time ago...

FINALLY.

That was a long 10 days but at last we're back home and back in Premier League action. Three consecutive top-flight wins are the target for Saints tonight, Crystal Palace visitors, let's get this show on the road. Build-up and play-by-play commentary from the game is coming right up!