Good afternoon! Thank you very much for joining us here at Sports Mole as we bring you live coverage of the Premier League clash between Southampton and Swansea. Both sides have something of a reputation for free-flowing and attractive football, so we should have an exciting match on our hands today.

We'll start by looking at our hosts today, and what a season it has been for Southampton so far. A lot of eyebrows were raised when the Saints sacked Nigel Adkins last season after he had done a tremendous job getting them into the Premier League, but Mauricio Pochettino seems to have just taken them up to the next level, and I'd expect them to finish in the top half this season for sure.

They're certainly on course for a top half finish at the moment. Their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace last week gave them 11 points from their opening six matches, a tally better than both Manchester clubs managed in the same period. They come into today's match seventh in the table, but three points would lift them into third place should Chelsea fail to pick up maximum points against Norwich.

They opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over West Brom before a 1-1 draw against Sunderland and an emphatic 5-1 away victory over Barnsley in the League Cup. Then came their one and only defeat of the season to date as Norwich triumphed 1-0, while a goalless draw at home to West Ham followed.

From then on, however, Southampton have been flawless. They really caught the attention with a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield, ending the Reds' 100% start to the season in the process. Then followed a 2-0 win over Bristol City in the League Cup before beating Crystal Palace by the same scoreline in their last outing to make it three wins on the bounce.

The bedrock of Southampton's success so far has been their stingy defence. They have conceded just two times in the Premier League this season, the joint lowest in the division alongside Tottenham Hotspur. They have kept four clean sheets in a row in all competitions, not conceding a single goal throughout the whole of September. Three of those clean sheets came in the Premier League, and Southampton have not kept four in a row in the top flight since September 2003.

Why have they not conceded many goals? Well, they simply haven't given the opposition the chance to score very often. Southampton's opponents combined have managed just 14 shots on target against them in the Premier League this season, which is the fewest against any team in the division.

The Saints will be looking to make it two conceded from their opening seven games this afternoon, and the last time they did that they went on to finish as runners-up in the top flight. That was back in 1983-84, when Liverpool finished as champions.

However, for all of their stinginess at the back, Pochettino will have concerns over their scoring at the other end. With Lambert and Osvaldo up front, goals should not be hard to come by for Southampton, yet Osvaldo's against Crystal Palace last week was the first and only goal from open play this season - an alarming statistic for Saints fans. They have scored just five goals in their six matches so far, which isn't really good enough if they want to maintain their position.

Another issue for Pochettino would be how long it takes them to get going. All five of those goals have come in the second half of matches, with the Saints yet to score in the opening 45. With all these statistics, it is perhaps unsurprising that Southampton games aren't generally the place to go if you want goals. Their six games this season have yielded just seven goals, which is the lowest in the Premier League.

In Swansea, however, they are up against a team that likes to play open and attacking football, so goals could be on the agenda this afternoon. The Swans have had an inconsistent start to the season, but that has not been helped by intermittent matches against some of the league's biggest clubs.

Swansea began the season with a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Manchester United before then coming up against Tottenham in their next league game, losing 1-0. Their first win of the season came against West Brom at the start of last month before a respectable 2-2 draw with Liverpool in what was a very eventful game from Jonjo Shelvey.

Just as Michael Laudrup's side looked to be hitting top form, with wins of Crystal Palace and a superb victory over Valencia in the Europa League, it all came to a crashing halt with defeat to Birmingham in the League Cup and then to an in-form Arsenal in the Premier League. They continued to winning ways against St Gallen on Thursday, however, and will be looking to carry that momentum into today's match.

Their form in Europe has been good so far, but the Premier League will remain the priority and as things stand they are 14th in the table. Their haul of seven points from six games isn't great on first glance but, when you consider that they have already played four of the top teams, it doesn't seem too bad. Laudrup's men are currently four points behind Southampton and could move as high as ninth - above Manchester United - with a big enough win today.

In terms of away form, it has rarely been better for Swansea. They have won their last three matches on their travels in the Premier League, and they have never won four in the competition. The last time they managed four consecutive away wins in the top flight was all the way back in 1982.

The root of this good away form is evident when you see their defensive record this season. The Swans have conceded just once on their travels in three games, while at home they have shipped eight goals in the same number of matches.

One thing Swansea will be keen to avoid today is conceding the first goal - they have lost all three of their league matches in which they have gone initially gone behind. However, they are also nearing a landmark at the other end of the field having reached 99 Premier League goals against Arsenal. Their next will bring up the century of goals scored in the competition.

TEAM NEWS: Right, the team news is in for both sides and the biggest news from the Southampton camp is that Luke Shaw will not play any part due to illness. He is replaced in the side by Danny Fox. Swansea, meanwhile, start Michu despite the Spaniard suffering a head injury against St Gallen, but the match has come too soon for Ashley Williams and Pablo Hernandez, who are out. The visitors do, however, name Angel Rangel in the starting lineup despite the full-back being expected to miss the game through injury. Full team news coming up.

SOUTHAMPTON STARTING XI: Boruc; Clyne, Fonte, Lovren, Fox; Wanyama, Schneiderlin, S. Davis, Lallana; Lambert, Osvaldo

SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: K. Davis, Rodriguez, Ward-Prowse, Cork, Guly, Chambers, Hooiveld

SWANSEA STARTING XI: Vorm; Rangel, Amat, Flores, Davies; Canas, Shelvey, Michu, Dyer, Routledge; Bony

SWANSEA SUBS: Tremmel, Taylor, Williams, Pozuelo, Britton, Tiendalli, Vazquez

What can we make of those two sides, then? Well, there are no surprises from the Southampton camp as they start with both Lambert and Osvaldo again. Their scoring record is not great this season as a club, but those two are both very good strikers and Swansea will certainly not be taking them lightly. Lambert will be looking to play well enough today to book his place in the England starting lineup yet again in the upcoming internationals, and a goal would be the perfect way to remind Roy Hodgson of his ability.

It is the defence that has provided Southampton with so much success so far this season, however. They are missing Shaw in the back four today but the likes of Fonte, Clyne and Lovren - who has made a fine start to life at the club - will be looking to protect Boruc as much as possible in order to keep their proud defensive record alive. Five clean sheets in a row in all competitions would be some achievement.

As for Swansea, it is a slight surprise to see Angel Rangel starting and also to see Williams on the bench as he is unlikely to be fit enough to play any part. If he was, he would undoubtedly be in the starting lineup. Still, they are able to name a good XI and will be looking towards Bony especially to provide their goal threat this afternoon. Shelvey is starting to find his feet in the Premier League having been given regular football at Swansea, and he could provide a threat from midfield for Laudrup.

The main danger man, as always seems to be the case for Swansea now, will be Michu. He may not have hit the goalscoring heights of last season so far as he is playing in a slightly less attacking role, but he is still a vital cog in his team's attack. No player has created more goalscoring chances in the Premier League this season than Michu, who has made 15 for his teammates. He will be wearing a scrum cap today after suffering a head injury against St Gallen on Thursday.

Stretching back to last season, these two sides do have contrasting form books. Southampton have only lost three of their last 18 games in all competitions, which is a fine record for a club of their stature in the top flight, while Swansea have managed just four victories since their League Cup triumph 17 matches ago.

PREDICTION: We're 10 minutes from kickoff at St Mary's, which means that it is time for a match prediction! This really is a difficult one to predict as both sides contain a wealth of talent in the ranks and play football that is easy on the eye. Southampton have had the better start and also have home advantage, but Swansea are the sort of team who can pull it out of the bag on occasions like these. Everything points to an entertaining, if low-scoring, match and I just can't separate the sides. I'm going to go for a 1-1 draw.

These two teams don't have much experience playing against each other, but more often than not it ends as a draw. They have met just four times in the last 30 years, and the spoils have been shared on three of those occasions. Both of last season's meetings ended all square, with a 1-1 draw being played out here and a 0-0 stalemate taking place in the reverse fixture.

Southampton's last win over Swansea came more than 30 years ago when they won 2-1 in March 1983. You'd have to go even further back for Swansea last win away to Southampton, all the way it March 1953, in fact, when they triumphed 4-1. Could they end that 60-year wait today?

There is one other match kicking off at 1.30pm in the Premier League this afternoon. Norwich host Chelsea at Carrow Road, and you can follow that match live with us here. I will also be keeping you bang up to date with goings on from that match.

The teams make their way out of the tunnel bathed in sunshine on the south coast. It is a lovely day in Southampton as summer clings on for as long as possible. There can be no complaints over the conditions or the pitch, which look to be in immaculate condition.

Nathan Dyer will be lining up against his former club this afternoon, and he has fond memories of this fixture having scored in it last season.

These two managers - Pochettino and Laudrup - came face to face a few times in La Liga during their playing days, although Pochettino has modestly admitted this week that they were incomparable as players due to Laudrup's world-class ability.

KICKOFF: Southampton get us underway at St Mary's in glorious sunshine. Can they pick up another victory and move into the top three in the table?

Risky play from Boruc early on as he is forced to dribble past Michu deep inside his own box following some really good high pressure from Swansea early on. Michu never really looked like he thought he could get that, but it could have been a chance.

UPDATE: There has been a very early goal at Carrow Road, and it has gone the way of Chelsea, who lead Norwich 1-0 courtesy of an Oscar strike.

Swansea have had the better of the opening exchanges as Southampton struggle to get a hold of the ball for any length of time. Shelvey has just had the first shot of the afternoon, but it was easy for Boruc to collect as it skimmed tamely across the floor.

Wow, after Boruc's risky play earlier Vorm has just outdone him! The Swansea keeper finds himself in no-man's land and tries to pick the ball up while a yard or so out of the area. He is tackled while trying to do so and the ball goes out for a goal kick, but Vorm was lucky there as he could have been sent off if he did what he was trying to!

CHANCE! The first real opening of the day falls the way of Southampton as Osvaldo finds space on the edge of the box. He dribbles into the area and is only put off by some fine defending from Amat. The striker keeps hold of the ball but has been forced wide and fires his shot past the near post as the chance goes begging.

Lovely football from Southampton as Lambert and Lallana link up to find Schneiderlin, who tries an early half volley that cannons off Amat and out for a throw-in. Southampton are very much on top at the moment having weathered an early storm from the visitors.

It is interesting to see whether fatigue will play a part for Swansea today. It is still very early in the season but they have had a punishing schedule already, with seven games in the last 21 days.

Lallana and Davis get in each other's way as a high ball drops to the edge of the box from a cleared corner. In the end, the ball comes off one of them and dribbles harmlessly into the arms of Vorm.

Amat has been a busy boy in these opening stages. Southampton have made a fair amount of progress down their right side and often the centre-back has been forced to come across to cover for Davies.

Lovely play from Lambert, who shows that he has a deft side as well as his obvious power. He takes it down well before attempting a clever reverse pass towards Lallana, who over-runs it as the ball rolls through to Vorm.

There is no doubt that Southampton are the team in control at the moment. Swansea started well but have not been able to boss possession as they usually do for the last 10 minutes or so. We still haven't had a really clear chance, but the hosts look like the most likely to create one at the moment.

Southampton strike first! Lambert nods the ball down Davies on the edge of the box following a poor Swansea clearance, and Davies just cushions a pass into the path of Lallana, who is coming in from the right. The Southampton skipper's first touch is good and his second touch sees him lash the ball into the top corner from close range.

So, Southampton's first-half hoodoo is over. That is the first time that they have scored in the opening 45 minutes this season, and it is Lallana's first goal since April. Worryingly for Swansea, they have lost all three league games in which they have conceded the first goal.

Southampton look so confident in possession of the ball right now and they just look that little bit sharper than their opponents at the moment. It has been a good performance from the hosts so far.

SHOT! Lallana is teed up around 25 yards yards from goal, but this strike isn't as good as his goal. He makes good enough contact with the ball, but his effort ends up some way wide of the right post.

Lallana is everywhere at the moment. Lambert cushions a lovely header right into the middle of the box and Lallana is racing in looking to get on the end of it for was would be a simple finish. He just can't get there in time, however, missing the ball by less than a yard.

CHANCE! Swansea have their best opening of the match as Michu is found at far post and manages to squeeze a header in under the close attention of two defenders. I'm not sure whether it hits the outside of the post or is pushed out by Boruc, but it was very close from the striker.

SAVE! Moments later Shelvey has a shot from the edge of the box that Boruc has to get down well to save to his left. That first one was a save from the Pole, so that is two important stops in quick succession.

SAVE! Lambert has established himself as one of the best free kick takers in the league at the moment and his confidence is clear to see as he opts to shoot from at least 30-35 yards. His effort is a very good one and forces Vorm scramble across and parry the ball away, although the Swansea keeper would have been disappointed had he been beaten from that range.

Bony tries a snapshot from just outside the box as he is given a little space to swivel and shoot, but it is easy enough for Boruc to get down and make the stop.

This has been a very entertaining encounter, especially since Lallana gave Southampton the lead. Swansea have come back into the match in the last 10 minutes or so and both teams looks capable of scoring now.

That is a decent opening for Southampton as Lambert is found in acres of space on the right. The England man chests it down and looks for Lallana, who has made a good run unmarked into the area, but Lambert's cross is a bit lazy and deflects off Amat. It almost sneaks in at the near post off the Swansea man, but Vorm reacts well to keep it out.

OFF THE POST! Oh, Swansea will not get any closer to that without scoring! A lovely backheel from Bony takes three players out of the game and allows Dyer to advance into the area. He worked the ball onto his left foot before beating the keeper with a decent strike. He didn't beat the post, however, and his effort deflected off the inside of the upright before spinning across the line and out of harm's way. So, so close.

A bit of a flash point as Dyer and Osvaldo both go into a full-blooded challenge, with the Southampton man coming out worst. The replays show that is was a fairly naughty one from Dyer, but I don't think that there was any malice involved on his part, he was going for the ball.

CHANCE! For a player of his aerial ability, that is a chance for Lambert. Lallana's free kick forces the England man to come further forward past the near post than he would have perhaps liked, but he will still be disappointed at not having found the target. He just got too much on his header, meeting it with the full face of his forehead when a glancing header would have been more appropriate.

CHANCE! Big chance for Swansea to level. A cross is hung into the area and Bony finds himself unmarked in the centre of the goal. He slightly mis-times his jump, however, and can't get enough on his header to beat Boruc, who still needs to make a good save. That is probably Swansea's best chance of the match so far.

Dyer finds space down the right again and he slips a good pass into the middle that should really cause Routledge to do everything to get in front of Clyne for a simple tap-in. He doesn't however, and Clyne is able to put it behind for a corner.

The fourth official's board shows just the one minute of added time at the end of this half.

CHANCE! Dyer again is the catalyst for a Swansea chance as he beats his man before lifting the ball into the area. Michu's scrum cap hasn't dampened his desire to get his head onto the ball as he attacks it brilliantly inside the box, but his header is straight at Boruc.

Well, what an entertaining half of football that was. We were expecting a footballing feast from these two free-flowing sides and they haven't disappointed so far. It is Southampton who have the advantage at the break, but Swansea have come as close as it is possible to come without scoring and are still very much in this match.

Swansea started the better in a cagey opening 10 minutes or so, but Southampton soon took a deserved lead through captain Adam Lallana. The Saints continued in the ascendancy for a while after that but Swansea came back into the match and were the better side towards the end of the half. Both teams have dominated at different stages and look capable of scoring in the second half.

The goal was a well-worked move from Southampton after a pretty poor clearance from the visitors. Lambert nodded the ball down to Davies on the edge of the box, and his cushioned pass found a good run from Lallana, who lashed the ball into the top corner from close range.

Swansea have certainly played their part in the entertainment, though, and came within a matter of inches of drawing level through Nathan Dyer. His shot beat the keeper all ends up but came back off the inside of the post before spinning across the line and out for a goal kick.

Boruc has had to be in fine form so far to keep the clean sheet alive for his side, but I would be surprised if this one was to end 1-0. Southampton games have been low-scoring this season, but this one is so open that it looks unlikely that there will be no more goals.

The visitors' best player so far has been Nathan Dyer, who has enjoyed a fair amount of space down the right flank and set up decent chances for the likes of Bony and Michu as well as coming close himself with that shot off the post. They will be looking to utilise him even more often against the stand-in left-back Fox in the second period.

As for Southampton, Adam Lallana has been their man of the match so far. He not only scored the goal but has also threatened on a number of other occasions to double his personal tally.

KICKOFF: Swansea get us back underway at St Mary's as they look to overhaul this 1-0 deficit. Hopefully we will be treated to a second half as good as the first.

An early worry for Southampton as Osvaldo looks hurt and may not be able to continue. He is limping off the field without the need of a stretcher, but he isn't moving freely at all.

Osvaldo is indeed able to continue and he looks like he has shaken that injury off already as he is back running smoothly again. That is very good news for the Saints.

Lovely football from Swansea and Dyer really should do a lot better with his shot. Routledge has come in from his wing and slipped a nice through ball to Dyer, but he sliced his effort a few yards wide when he should have hit the target.

Another opening for Swansea as Michu does well to get the ball to Rangel, who floats his cross towards the head of Bony. The striker slightly mis-times his jump again, however, and puts his header over the bar.

YELLOW CARDS! That is incredibly close to being a penalty as Bony beats Fonte before running at Lovren. He skips away from the centre-back but is brought down by a mixture of tackles from both Lovren and Fonte, who are both cautioned. The replays show that it was indeed just outside the box, so that is a good decision from the ref.

In the end the free kick is probably too close for Shelvey as his effort is wide, over and lacking any real power. Disappointing strike from the former Liverpool man but it was always going to be hard to get it on target from there.

Swansea are the side asking all of the questions at the moment and Southampton are being forced deeper and deeper into their own box while defending. They need to do something to change the direction this match is heading in.

SOUTHAMPTON SUB: James Ward-Prowse becomes the first sub of the day, replacing Osvaldo who perhaps hasn't fully healed from that Canas tackle early in this half.

The home fans are trying to inspire their side with a rousing recital of 'When the Saints go marching in', but they will be getting increasingly anxious at the way this match is going. Swansea are in control at the moment and, if it stays like this, you'd back them to get a goal sooner or later.

Southampton have recorded a 1-0 scoreline pretty often already this season, and they would certainly take another if you offered it to them now.

The Saints do seem to have abandoned most efforts to add to their lead now, but I think that it could be a little too early to go all-out defence now. They simply can't get on the ball for any length of time as, when they do, there aren't many players upfield to aim for.

Just as I say that, Southampton have their brightest moment of the half so far. Again Lallana is the creator, making his down the right side of the box before clipping a clever ball towards the back post that takes Vorm out of the game and forces a corner.

SWANSEA SUB: Swansea's first change of the day sees Pozuelo come on for Routledge, who has been disappointing this afternoon.

SOUTHAMPTON SUB: Interesting change from Pochettino as Lambert makes way to be replaced by Jay Rodriguez. It is a straight swap up front and Rodriguez brings fresh legs to the side, while also perhaps being a little better defensively.

Shelvey has a decent chance as he picks the ball up in space 25 yards out in the middle of the pitch. Uncharacteristically, his effort is tame as he tries to curl it into the far corner but hits his shot straight at Boruc.

UPDATE: There has been a huge goal at Carrow Road as Norwich have equalised against Chelsea through Anthony Pilkington. It is now 1-1 there which means, as things stand, Southampton would be going third.

The ball falls nicely to Schneiderlin after a cleared corner, but that is about all I can say about that in a positive manner. He swings his leg at it and slices his shot a long, long way over the bar.

Just what has Pochettino been teaching his defenders? Even under pressure in this match they have defended well and are now just over 15 minutes away from a fifth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions. Still just two goals conceded for them in the league this season.

I wonder how long it will be before we see Vazquez in this match. He is the only other striker available to Laudrup, and you'd think that his introduction was inevitable if this one stays like this for much longer. Either that or move Michu up front alongside Bony.

DISALLOWED GOAL! The referee has saved himself some major controversy there, and it is a case of two wrongs making a right. Southampton are awarded a corner when the last touch clearly came off Ward-Prowse and from it Wanyama bundles the ball in from close range. His wild celebrations go on for a while before he clocks that the goal has been disallowed, although I couldn't really see any foul in that. Still, justice has ultimately been done and it remains 1-0.

It will be interesting to see what the managers think of that incident. It wasn't a corner in the first place, of that there is no doubt, but once it was given then the goals should have stood. I can't help but feel that Mike Dean may have been influenced by Swansea's unusually vociferous complaints over the award of a corner.

YELLOW CARD! Wanyama becomes the latest player to receive a yellow card, and he can have no complaints as he sticks a leg out to cynically trip Dyer.

Dyer again makes headway down the right and sends in a decent cross, as he has done all day. Michu gets his head on the end of it but always looks unconvincing in his attempt as he steers his effort wide.

That should do it for Southampton, but it is poor defending from Swansea. Amat fails to deal with the initial high ball and then Flores inexplicably lets it bounce and doesn't clear the danger, which allows Rodriguez to squeeze in and fire his shot into the bottom corner. It is a decent finish and Rodriguez showed good persistence to get to the ball, but Swansea should have dealt with that on two separate occasions.

That is a real hammer blow for Swansea, who looked most likely to score and would have been optimistic of getting an equaliser. It looks like this game is beyond them now, and it will be a tough one to take for Laudrup, that's for sure.

UPDATE: There has also been a late goal at Carrow Road and Southampton's chances of moving into third have taken a major blow as Chelsea have regained their lead. It is now 2-1 to the Blues courtesy of an Eden Hazard strike.

UPDATE: That result is surely beyond any doubt now as Chelsea have struck for a second time in as many minutes. It was Willian who got the third, and it is now 3-1 to Chelsea against Norwich.

SOUTHAMPTON SUB: Steven Davis is making way in the closing stages to be replaced by Guly do Prado, who is welcomed back from the wilderness by a fine reception from the fans.

There will be four minutes of added time at the end of this match. Surely that won't be enough time for Swansea to get anything out of this game...will it?

It is Southampton who are pushing forward in the closing stages. Attack is very much proving to be the best form of defence for the hosts at the moment. As long as the ball is up this end of the field, Swansea can't score.

That is another huge win for Southampton, who continue to go from strength to strength this season. Those three points, coupled with Chelsea's win, put the Saints fourth in the table for a while at least. It is a superb start to their season and, impressively, yet another clean sheet for Pochettino's men. That is now five in their opening seven matches.

The Saints scored a goal in either half to take all three points, although I'm sure they will acknowledged that Swansea deserved something out of today's game. Adam Lallana gave his side the lead in the 19th minute when he lashed his shot past Michel Vorm from close range, while Jay Rodriguez sealed the points with a goal in the last 10 minutes following a couple of defensive errors.

As for Swansea, they have now lost two league games in a row as inconsistency rears its ugly head for them once more. There were plenty of positives to take from their performance and, in truth, they deserved a point from this game, but they were unable to take their chances and remain in the bottom half of the table.

Right, that's all we have time for this afternoon. Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for what was a thoroughly entertaining match between Southampton and Swansea. It was the Saints who ultimately prevailed with a 2-0 win, sending them into the top four of the table. I will leave you with our match report and be sure to stick around for analysis, which should be on site within half an hour, and reaction. If it is more live football that you're after, then you can follow Tottenham vs. West Ham and West Brom vs. Arsenal with us now. From me, though, it is goodbye!