Southampton 1-4 Tottenham: Premier League as it happened

That is just about all we have time for tonight, but thanks for joining IBTimes UK for a real festive cracker.

Our next live Premier League coverage comes on New Year's Eve, when Liverpool host Manchester City, Chelsea entertain Stoke and Middlesbrough travel to Old Trafford.

Until then, goodnight.

Southampton, meanwhile, suffer just their second home league defeat of Puel's tenure to date.

The Frenchman may well be unhappy with the sending off of Redmond, but his side were comfortably second best after that Alli equaliser that cancelled out Van Dijk's early header.

They remain eighth in the table and nine points short of the top six. The Saints begin 2017 with a trip to Ronald Koeman's Everton on 2 January before an FA Cup third-round tie against Norwich City and a two-legged EFL Cup semi-final clash with Liverpool.

A real topsy-turvy festive encounter that started quickly and faded badly before a highly entertaining second half.

A 4-1 scoreline slightly flatters Tottenham, but Pochettino will nevertheless be delighted with the both the performance of Alli and the fight shown to secure a third straight league win that ends a run of consecutive away defeats.

Tonight was their first top-flight triumph away from White Hart Lane since 24 September, let's not forget.

Spurs remain fifth, but crucially move to within one point of fourth-place Arsenal. They have also now set a new club record for the most points earned during a single calendar year (71) in the Premier League era.

The only slight negative, aside from Kane's truly woeful penalty, is that both Walker and Vertonghen will now miss the New Year's Day trip to Watford after collecting their fifth yellow cards of the season.

Better to miss that game than the subsequent visit of leaders and rivals Chelsea, however.

Full-time

Southampton 1-4 Tottenham

Three minutes of added time to be played at St Mary's.

Pochettino makes one final change, sending on the fit again Janssen in place of Kane.

Vertonghen takes exception to a needless late challenge from Long and both players are cautioned.

Two late goals in as many minutes from Tottenham adds some extra gloss to the scoreline.

Rose comes flying down the left-hand flank before cutting inside and beating Romeu. He then finds Alli, who picks out the same corner as Son with optimal precision.

Southampton have been well beaten, but a 4-1 deficit feels a little harsh.

Goal: Southampton 1-4 Tottenham (Dele Alli)

Son wraps up Tottenham's first away league win since 24 September.

After Eriksen's sweeping ball is inadvertently deflected into his path by the head of Romeu, the substitute maintains his composure and coolly slots past Forster.

No coming back for Southampton now.

Goal: Southampton 1-3 Tottenham (Heung-Min Son)

Pochettino's second change sees Winks replace Dembele.

Fonte runs the risk of punishment with something of a wild lunge at Rose. Any real contact there and Southampton could easily have been reduced to nine men.

Speaking of brainless risks, Lloris races out to meet a hopeful long Southampton pass. His weak header falls straight to Hojbjerg, who totally fails to achieve the necessary lift on his shot with the goalkeeper still miles off his line.

Spurs continue to search for a third goal that would put this game beyond Southampton's reach. Van Dijk stands tall to block an attempt from Eriksen.

Tottenham are producing some impressive build-up play now as a latest incisive move ends with Alli firing harmlessly into the side netting.

Pochettino turns to his bench for the first time, withdrawing Sissoko in favour of Heung-Min Son.

Southampton go for broke with a triple substitution after Eriksen crashes the ball off the crossbar.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Dusan Tadic and Shane Long are thrown on in place of Davis, Sofiane Boufal and Rodriguez.

20 minutes remaining.

Wanyama fools both Davis and Romeu with some more nifty footwork before unleashing a powerful left-footed drive that is palmed over by Forster.

Bertrand then makes an important block to thwart Walker.

A real edge to this game now as Rose enters the book for a crude barge on Cedric Soares near the touchline.

Oh dear. Shades of Roberto Baggio at the 1994 World Cup as Kane sends his penalty over the crossbar and into orbit.

It looked like the ball skipped up off his standing foot before being piledrived into the stratosphere.

A lifeline for 10-man Southampton. Kane immediately looks back at a divot in disgust.

Dramatic scenes at St Mary's as Tottenham break quickly and Sissoko lays the ball nicely into the path of Alli, who fires wide before being awarded a penalty by Mike Dean for an apparent shirt pull from Redmond that initially occurred outside the area.

After a lengthy delay, the Southampton winger is shown a straight red card.

Red card (Nathan Redmond)

Penalty Tottenham!

Southampton look to test Lloris with their own header before Walker picks up his fifth yellow card of the season for bringing down Bertrand. He will now be suspended for the trip to Watford on New Year's Day.

Tottenham lead for the first time tonight thanks to yet another headed effort.

Fonte is forced to hack the ball behind after Bertrand struggles to deal with a dangerous pass intended for Kyle Walker and Kane, criminally underused in the first half, escapes the attention of Romeu to power home past Forster.

Goal: Southampton 1-2 Tottenham (Harry Kane)

Wanyama is fortunate to avoid being cautioned for a hefty foul on Davis. Tottenham work the ball wide to the left, where Sissoko produces a poor cross that sails behind for a goal kick.

The second half is off and running. No changes from Puel or Pochettino at the break.

Level at the interval thanks to a headed goal from either side.

Southampton made an incredibly quick start and continued to apply real pressure after that early Van Dijk goal, but Alli's equaliser out of nowhere totally sapped the tempo and energy from their play.

Tottenham have been on top since then, although chances to take the lead have been few and far between.

In truth, the game has faded badly after an exciting opening. Just one shot on target for each team rather tells its own story.

Half-time

Southampton 1-1 Tottenham

We will have just the one minute of added time at the end of this first half.

Not exactly known for his silky skills, Wanyama deftly slaloms his way through the Southampton defence before being crucially stopped in his tracks by former teammate Fonte.

Tottenham come again, but Alli's wayward shot was never likely to test Forster.

Pochettino's side continue to do most of the running but they are suffering from a real lack of quality with regards to their final ball.

More pressure from Tottenham as Dembele glides to the byline to win a second corner in quick succession.

The Saints' defence holds firm.

Vertonghen concedes a corner after snuffing out a swift Southampton counter-attack and Lloris confidently punches the ball clear.

A couple of chances for Eriksen, who sees an initial low shot deflected behind by Van Dijk.

The Danish playmaker then demonstrates a lack of composure by blasting a first-time effort into row z.

Tottenham win a corner on the far side, but Eriksen's disappointing delivery is powered away at the front post.

It's been all Spurs since that Alli goal, but they are yet to fashion any more chances.

The travelling supporters are in fine voice as Tottenham, passing the ball around with renewed confidence, begin to monopolise possession.

Southampton look content to sit off and soak up a bit of pressure after that setback.

Despite being pushed back against the ropes for the majority of this opening 20 minutes, Tottenham snatch an equaliser totally against the run of play when Sissoko's cross from the left takes a huge deflection off Redmond.

That allows a leaping Dele Alli to nip in and beat Van Dijk to a close-range header that goes in off the woodwork.

All square at St Mary's. It's certainly been a lively opening.

Goal: Southampton 1-1 Tottenham (Dele Alli)

A frustrated Dembele affords Ward-Prowse another chance to cross after pulling back and then chopping down Redmond. He picks up the first yellow card of the evening for his troubles.

Looking totally out of kilter in defence, Spurs are almost punished for a woeful Wanyama clearance. Fonte then sees an effort blocked and Redmond whistles a shot narrowly wide of the far post.

Vertonghen also clears Bertrand's dangerous low cross and catches Rodriguez with a stray arm in the process.

Tottenham are barely surviving at the moment.

Nothing doing for Tottenham during these early stages, despite Eriksen's efforts. Fraser Forster displays a touch of nerves by hoofing a clearance straight out of play.

The previously injury-stricken Jay Rodriguez, who scored his first Premier League goals since August against Bournemouth, fizzes a shot wide after being teed up by Redmond.

This has been a really positive start by the Saints.

Christian Eriksen takes a free-kick for Tottenham but Harry Kane's subsequent shot flies well over the crossbar.

A disastrous start to his first St Mary's return for Wanyama, who fouls Ryan Bertrand to give Southampton a free-kick wide to the left.

Ward-Prowse steps up to flight in an excellent delivery that is headed emphatically past Hugo Lloris by the highly-rated Van Dijk, who soared high above the helpless Vertonghen.

A dream start for the hosts as they lead inside 69 seconds.

Goal: Southampton 1-0 Tottenham (Virgil van Dijk)

The two teams are out and referee Mike Dean gets us underway. Southampton, kicking from right to left in this first half, are decked out in their usual red and white striped home strips with black shorts.

Spurs, meanwhile, line up in their third-choice gold kits with navy blue pinstripes.

But NOT a January target for Manchester City, according to Pep Guardiola....

After a 10-day break, Southampton now face a rather gruelling schedule of three matches in just six days. Despite his side being hit hardest by the festive fixture list, Puel is evidently relishing his first taste of festive action...

"It's my first experience of the Boxing Day round of games, and I like this, because it's a good atmosphere, with a good spirit," he said. "It's a good thing to play good football and it will be important and interesting with our fans to play a good game, with a good result. Against Tottenham, I think it is a good day for this.

"It's a team like us, who like to play good football, with possession, quality and technical players. They have a good spirit. Of course, they are a great team and they play for first place in the table, but we saw good things against Bournemouth – on the spontaneity, on the quality, and I hope we will stay with this spirit and these good intentions in the last third.

"It's important for us now to be clinical and to score and to try to shoot, put in good crosses, make assists – all of this is important now to get what we deserve out of our games."

Speaking ahead of his latest reunion with Southampton, Pochettino, who spent 18 months in Hampshire before leaving for Tottenham in May 2014, admitted that he struggled with the hostility that greeted his first return last April on what was dubbed by the hosts as "Ronald Koeman day".

"For me it was difficult," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian. "I remember my first game back there. They prepared the Orange day to try to upset me. But, in the same way, they showed their love for me because if they didn't [do that], it would have showed they never cared for me. If they want to show the love for another manager, it was hard for them.

"I feel the love from the people but it's normal for some of the fans to hate me. That doesn't change my respect for Southampton, the club and the people we worked together with for a year and a half. For different situations we had to split our way. But always my feelings or my memories will be good.

"Always, you have to respect the supporters and they were not happy that, first, I moved here and then brought Toby and now Victor. We need to show full respect to the club and our former fans but it is normal when the people love you and you take a decision that is not for them – it's normal that they are a little bit upset about the decision. You can respect that."

Tottenham, meanwhile, have not managed to win a league game away from White Hart Lane since a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough in September. Their only two top-flight losses so far this term have come during their last two trips to Chelsea and Manchester United.

If they fail to achieve victory tonight, then it will be their longest away streak without a win since 2012. If they do triumph, then they will move on to 71 points for the calendar year - a club record in the Premier League era.

To build on what Nathan Redmond was saying there, Southampton's 2-0 loss to Chelsea in October was their only home league defeat of the season so far. As per the BBC, the Saints have have not conceded in four of their last six matches and have kept three consecutive clean sheets on their own patch.

Puel's men have won four and drawn three of their eight league matches in 2016-17, but a tally of eight league goals is the lowest in the Premier League and one less than West Ham, Middlesbrough and Hull City.

A low-scoring affair could well be on the cards tonight.

Tottenham have quickly confirmed that Alderweireld's latest absence is due to illness. The Belgian defender spent a successful season on loan at Southampton in 2014-15 and was linked with a permanent switch to St Mary's until Tottenham came calling.

Victor Wanyama does line up against his former side this evening for the first time since completing an £11m move to north London in June.

Just the one change from Pochettino, who relegates academy graduate Harry Winks to a substitute's berth in favour of Sissoko. There is curiously still no place for Alderweireld, despite that previous confirmation that he was no longer suffering from a back problem.

Janssen is deemed fit enough for the bench, however. Kieran Trippier drops out of the matchday squad altogether.

Claude Puel makes four changes to the side that beat south coast rivals Bournemouth 3-1 last time out, with captain and centre-back Jose Fonte returning to partner Virgil van Dijk after his controversial omission at the at the Vitality Stadium.

Maya Yoshida drops to the bench, as do Harrison Reed and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Romeu, James Ward-Prowse and Steven Davis all return, while Clasie misses out with that groin injury.

Stuart Taylor continues as the deputy to Fraser Forster with McCarthy still absent.

Tottenham XI: Lloris (c), Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Wanyama, Dembele, Sissoko, Eriksen, Alli, Kane

Subs: Vorm, Davies, Wimmer, Winks, Nkoudou, Son, Janssen

Southampton XI: Forster, Cedric, Fonte (c), Van Dijk, Bertrand, Romeu, Davis, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Boufal, Rodriguez

Subs: Taylor, Yoshida, Martina, Reed, Hojbjerg, Tadic, Long

The teams are in. Stay tuned...

As for Tottenham, influential centre-back Toby Alderweireld is available again after missing the 2-1 win over Burnley with a minor back issue.

Striker Vincent Janssen is also expected to return to the squad after an ankle injury that has kept him out for a month, but Erik Lamela has still yet to recover from a lingering hip complaint.

"Toby will be available, he has been training well after his problem with his back, Vincent Janssen will be available too. It's only Erik Lamela that will still be out," Pochettino said.

"We'll see what happens (with Lamela). It's a slow recovery, we are happy but we need to be patient with him."

Danny Rose, Mousa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko are all fit.

Before we get any official word regarding tonight's starting lineups, let's run through the latest team news.

Southampton will welcome back Oriol Romeu after a one-game suspension automatically incurred for accumulating five yellow cards, but fellow midfielder Jordie Clasie remains sidelined along with long-term absentees Matt Targett, Charlie Austin and Jeremy Pied.

Back-up goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is still considered considered doubtful due to a hamstring problem.

Good evening and a very warm welcome to IBTimes UK's latest live coverage of a busy festive glut of Premier League football.

Last night my esteemed colleague Steve Busfield brought you every kick from Anfield as Liverpool re-established their title credentials by coming from behind to record an emphatic 4-1 victory over Stoke City, while this evening our attentions turn to the south coast as Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino seeks to avoid a third successive away defeat on his latest return to former employers Southampton.

So banish those back-to-work blues and stay tuned for minute-by-minute updates from St Mary's. We will also bring you a match preview, manager quotes and all the latest team news in addition to confirmed lineups before kick-off at 19.45 GMT.

You won't miss a trick with us....