That’s it for me, I’m off. Thanks for joining me, and for your emails and tweets. Here’s our match report from St Mary’s. See you next time.
Ralph Hasenhüttl speaks!
“It would be easy to say it’s because of the red card but it’s not the moment to discuss the result. I take 100% responsibility. It was a ‘no’ performance from us. I am proud of our fans who stayed and watch, they didn’t deserve that. I want to say sorry I’ve never had such an experience. It will not easy to recover from this. We have to stand up. I would agree with Nathan Redmond that it was an embarrassment. Tomorrow we will look at the match.
He looks close to tears and deserves credit for not throwing his players under the bus.
🤝 #itfc https://t.co/E3e0CHGR8A pic.twitter.com/7aichBSv9p
— Ipswich Town FC (@IpswichTown) October 25, 2019
Updated
Very shocked to see that Donald Trump is tweeting about Southampton 0-9 Leicester.
Brendan Rodgers speaks!
It’s a mentality that we’re trying to impose. To finish with nine is a remarkable effort. We said to them at half-time: don’t go soft. Keep your quality, keep your discipline. We had to do our job and punish Southampton. Its tough on Ralph.
Harvey Barnes is going to be a big player for Leicester and for England. He doesn’t have a arrogant personality but he’s growing and changing all the time. One of his passes tonight was sublime.
Kasper is really happy, the only other goalkeeper to have a ‘niner’ was his father!
This is an education, some of our players like James Maddison and Ben Chilwell have a lovely arrogance.
Read Ben Fisher's match report
Southampton fans, you can relive tonight’s game all over again.
Look who is piping up.
It’s...... Jamie Vardy #9 👊🏼
— Rebekah Vardy (@RebekahVardy) October 25, 2019
Looking forward to Ralph Hasenhüttl’s post-match interview.
@michaelbutler18 Nein Ralph, Nein.
— TheFlyingPasty (@ToffeeDan) October 25, 2019
Jamie Vardy speaks!
“We know that when teams have 10 men that is can be difficult, but we caused them a few problems tonight.”
Um, yeah.
Southampton drop into the bottom three, unsurprisingly because of goal difference.
Leicester are second, on 20 points, which is a better total at this stage of the season then they had when they won the league.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 9 | 14 | 25 |
| 2 | Leicester | 10 | 17 | 20 |
| 3 | Man City | 9 | 20 | 19 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 9 | 5 | 17 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 9 | 1 | 15 |
| 6 | Crystal Palace | 9 | -2 | 14 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 9 | 2 | 12 |
| 8 | Burnley | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| 9 | Sheff Utd | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| 10 | AFC Bournemouth | 9 | 0 | 12 |
| 11 | West Ham | 9 | -2 | 12 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| 14 | Man Utd | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| 15 | Everton | 9 | -5 | 10 |
| 16 | Brighton | 9 | -3 | 9 |
| 17 | Newcastle | 9 | -9 | 8 |
| 18 | Southampton | 10 | -16 | 8 |
| 19 | Norwich | 9 | -11 | 7 |
| 20 | Watford | 9 | -16 | 4 |
Nine goals. Two hat-tricks. One red card.
This was the joint-biggest win in the Premier League (and a Schmeichel was present for both of them). The biggest ever top-flight away victory. Leicester played some sublime football tonight – Harvey Barnes, Jamie Vardy, Ayoze Perez and Ben Chilwell were outstanding, but we must emphasise just how bad Southampton were. Again, it is worth remembering that they were only one man down. Teams can usually make a fight of it with 10, but the performance from back to front was shambolic.
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Full-time: Southampton 0-9 Leicester
James Ward-Prowse and a few others trudge around the pitch applauding the home supporters. I wonder if Southampton will give them their money back.
— Out Of Context Football (@nocontextfooty) October 25, 2019
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GOAL! Southampton 0-9 Leicester (Vardy 90+2)
Vardy sidefoots it into the corner! Leicester on cloud nine!
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Penalty to Leicester! Vardy goes down in the box!
90+2 min: Leicester will have a chance to make it 9-0! Vardy will have a chance to score his own hat-trick!
90 min: Two minutes added on here. Blow up, ref.
88 min: “I was struggling with whether or not to start Chilwell in my fantasy team - he hasn’t done much of late - and I finally decided to go with him. Thank the lord,” writes Ryan Barnes.
I was going to mention Chilwell, who is a very good left back and has two assists and a goal tonight. His biggest strength, rather than being really quick or good in the air, or anything like that, is his intelligence. He’s dependable at the back, makes sensible decisions and going forward combines really nicely with the left winger, which was Harvey Barnes tonight. I don’t think he’s going to lead England to World Cup glory any time soon, he’s not world class, but not a million miles off. He’s a bit like Leighton Baines in that regard.
GOAL! Southampton 0-8 Leicester (Maddison 85)
Vardy wins a free-kick on the edge of the box. It’s 20 yards from goal, front-centre. Maddison is over the ball … which he curls beautifully over the wall into the corner! Textbook, that is. Gunn never stood a chance, it was hit with just pace and spin.
Updated
85 min: Somebody in the office has just admitted that they’ve got Angus Gunn in their fantasy team.
84 min: If Leicester can cling onto this result, they will go above Manchester City into second place in the table. And with tonight’s goals, they are now also second in the goals scored column, two ahead of Liverpool on 23.
82 min: “If two or more players bag hat-tricks, as could happen with this game, who gets the ball?” asks Jason Ali. “Actually, I lived in Southampton for 12 years (1985-1997), so I tend to follow the team’s result. This is not good.”
I’m … not sure. I guess they just have one each.
80 min: The camera pans to Matt Le Tissier. He has seen better days.
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79 min: Gray fires in a wonderful cross across the face of goal, but Stephens does well to hook it clear.
77 min: Southampton finally show a little bit of quality on the ball, their home fans jeering them ironically as they string maybe eight or nine passes together.
74 min: Golden chance for Perez to score his fourth! A corner is whipped in from the left, Perez kills it stone dead on the byline beyond the far post and rolls a cross/shot across the goal-line, the ball just missing the far post and the foot of Jonny Evans, who had a tap in, but didn’t quite anticipate it correctly.
And with that, Perez’s work is done for the ebening. Three goals, his first in Leicester blue. He’ll be replaced by Demarai Gray.
73 min: Worth remembering that Southampton’s next two games are:
Manchester City (away) in the league cup.
Manchester City (away) in the league.
Crumbs.
71 min: Leicester make their first change: Barnes off, Albrighton on. No Leicester player will want to come off.
69 min: Redmond forces Schmeichel into a very good save! The Southampton man darts down the left, skips inside Evans and curls one towards the top corner. Schmeichel sticks out a left hand and turns it over with his fingertips. Corner to Southampton, which comes to nothing.
64 min: This would be the joint-largest away win ever in the Premier League, behind Manchester United’s 8-1 win over Nottingham Forest in 1999.
The biggest ever Premier League win, remember is Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich.
@michaelbutler18 is this finally Ipswich’s big night?
— Dan Spicer (@spicer_dan) October 25, 2019
62 min: “I’ve lost faith with Ralph,” emails Andrew Read. “There are no words.”
I wonder, despite all the good work that Hasenhüttl has done since he arrived, if this one result could spell the end. In the wrong light, it could be seen that he has lost the dressing room, or that he is tactically inept. I don’t actually believe that, but there will be lots of angry fans (and board members) to deal with in the coming days.
60 min: Leicester fans, with their scarfs in the air bearing the name of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, sing a song dedicated to their late chairman. They are having the night of their lives.
GOAL! Southampton 0-7 Leicester (Vardy 58)
It’s worth bearing in mind that Southampton are only one man down. They are playing like they have two legs. Leicester bomb forward and no Southampton players track their man. What that means is that Chilwell ends up on the byline, has time to get his head up, dinks a cross into the box, and Vardy has a free header, six yards out. No problem.
Updated
GOAL! Southampton 0-6 Leicester (Perez hat-trick 56)
Leicester are playing simple, patient football. It would be easy in this situation to bring out the tricks and flicks. But they simply work the ball around, waiting for the space to inevitably open up. When it does, Barnes drops an inch-perfect pass onto Perez’s chest. The Spaniard controls it and lashes a volley past Gunn from close range. His third of the evening.
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54 min: Fair play to Southampton fans, or what is left of them. They are belting out “When the Saints go marching in,”
52 min: Southampton have finally caved to having just two banks of four, with Nathan Redmond scurrying around up top. I forgot to mention there were a couple of subs made by Saints at the break. Ings and Vestergaard off, Stephens and Danso on.
Two changes at the break for #SaintsFC... pic.twitter.com/2ue2WsaAVa
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) October 25, 2019
50 min: “There’s a fair chance Angus Gunn could well emulate his father, Bryan and set a top flight record unlikely to be broken,” moots Phil Withall. “A father and son that both concede seven goals in a Premier league match. Bryan having done so against Blackburn a long time ago …”
Oh, you mean this game? As a Rovers fan, I don’t mind giving the highlights a spin again, with the game also played in a torrential downpour. Watch out for a delicious dink/chip from a young Alan Shearer. Woof.
47 min: So nearly 6-0. Yoshida gets awfully lucky after he has his pocket picked by Vardy, with the England striker only firing his shot straight at Gunn. Not sure the half-time team talk has quite gone in for the Japanese.
Peeeeeeeeeeeeep! And we’re off again. It’s time for 10-man Southampton to pull off the greatest comeback of all time. Stay tuned.
5-0 at HT is always 5-1 at FT. Let's have a 10-0 for once.
— Max Rushden (@maxrushden) October 25, 2019
“Ralph Hasenhüttl should go full John Sitton at half-time,” writes Andrew Goudie. “I can’t see it, somehow.”
Na, me neither.
This is the first time that Leicester have scored five league goals away from home in the league since 1984, when they beat Notts County 5-2 in the Old Division 1.
“There are no easy games in the Premier League,” smirks Matt Dony. “Unless you’re playing a dispirited 10 men in biblical rain. 0-8 prediction.”
Updated
Looking forward to the attendance announcement at half-time. Wonder if it is real time.
Brendan Rodgers is the only manager whose teams have had both a 5-0 half-time lead (Leicester at Southampton today) and a 5-0 half-time deficit (Liverpool at Stoke in 2015) in Premier League games.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) October 25, 2019
Half-time: Southampton 0-5 Leicester City
I wonder what Ralph Hasenhüttl is going to say to his team.
GOAL! Southampton 0-5 Leicester (Vardy 45)
Clinical from Vardy, who wasn’t going to miss out on this goal-fest. Chilwell’s cross is deflected over Vestergaard. Vardy takes it down with one touch, skins Yoshida with the other and lashes it past Gunn with a third from eight yards out. Eeeeeesh.
Updated
43 min: Barnes, now playing centrally, skips past two defenders to the byline where his shot is blocked. But the man is playing out of his rain-soaked skin.
The Olés are coming out from the Leicester fans, by the way.
40 min: “I’d give credit to those fans that showed up for the start in that weather,” emails Scott Wedel. “The fans that are leaving are showing more common sense than disloyalty to the home team.”
I wonder how many of them will stick around for the second half.
GOAL! Southampton 0-4 Leicester (Perez 37)
This is a simple goal. Leicester work the ball from right to left, Chilwell crosses to the back post, Valery (now playing at left back in stead of Bertrand) completely switches off and lets the ball run, and Perez steals in to sidefoot the cross into the roof of Gunn’s net. Absolutely miserable defending from Valery, who has had a shocking half.
Updated
34 min: “I’m obviously in a minority because I didn’t think Bertrand’s challenge was worth a red card,” emails Graham Parley. “Nor did Andre Marriner at first viewing. So why didn’t he review the tackle on the pitch-side TV rather than accept the judgement of Mike VAR Dean? Is it because no ref has used it all season?”
I think in that instance, it was because it was just so clear. Bertrand’s studs clearly connected with Perez’s half. With a bit more force, it could have done some serious damage. I also think that’s why they showed it on the big screen at the stadium. Because they were in little doubt it was the right decision. A clear and obvious error that should be over-ruled. And guess what, it was Mike Dean, tonight’ VAR, that did the deed.
Updated
32 min: Back come Leicester, and once more it is Barnes who is at the heart of the move. He seems to have an excellent understanding with Chilwell down this left flank. The left back overlaps Barnes and the pair play a one-two, with the winger so nearly squirming a shot under Gunn from close range. The Southampton keeper actually does well to stop it with his feet, and just claws the loose ball back from the goal-line when it runs free.
30 min: Chance for Southampton! This is an excellent move from the home side, which starts with Redmond bursting past Soyuncu on the right wing. The Englishmna switches the play wonderfully to Ings, who cuts the ball back to Romeu, who in turn feeds Redmond once more. Redmond is in, but a covering tackle from Evans forces him into an early shot, which is well saved by Schmeichel.
28 min: Barnes goes to ground on the edge of the box, claiming a foul from Romeu. Andre Marriner isn’t having it, although the Englishman was probably impeded by Romeu’s arm. Not enough to fall to the floor, mind. That said, I think Barnes is an exceptional player. Somebody that has played down the leagues with MK Dons, Barnsley and West Brom and knows the physical dirty side of the game. And he’s so dynamic with the ball at his feet, can simply run round you with his pace.
25 min: The game has settled down, a little bit. Southampton have got into Leicester’s half, and in fairness to Nathan Redmond, he actually looks quite bright, skipping past Ricardo Pereira on the left wing.
23 min: Good ebening. That’s really one for the Arsenal fans – I don’t particularly care – but I do think Brendan is a better manager.
@michaelbutler18 Good ebening. Would you rather have Brendon or Unai as The Gunners’ manager? Best from DC...
— filipzec (@zekonja) October 25, 2019
21 min: Hasenhüttl, absolutely drenched on the sidelines, gestures for Ward-Prowse to come over and have a chat. The maverick 3-4-2-1 isn’t working …
20 min: Some home fans are leaving.
GOAL! Southampton 0-3 Leicester (Perez 19)
This could be a cricket score – it’s raining goals. This is just a simple one-two between Perez and Tielemans. Perez isn’t tracked, and the former Newcastle man gets into the penalty area and fires a fierce, low strike in at the near post. Boos ring out around St Mary’s.
Updated
GOAL! Southampton 0-2 Leicester (Tielemans 17)
Absolutely sensational from Barnes, who nutmegs Valery on the left, storms past another covering defender and cuts the ball back. Valery actually recovers to get back, but only diverts it into Tielemans’s feet, who fires past Gunn’s right hand from around the penalty spot. Wow.
Updated
15 min: Perez seems to be OK, after that challenge from Bertrand.
12 min: This is surely not going to end well for Southampton, who now have a mountain to climb.
“That was an exciting match while it lasted,” emails Rob Coughlin. “I feel for the Saints’ supporters still sitting in that weather.”
RED CARD! Bertrand is sent off!
What a double blow for Southampton! In the build-up to the goal, Bertrand caught Perez very high with his studs. After Leicester’s celebrations subside, referee Andre Marriner goes to VAR and shows Bertrand a retrospective straight red!
The incident is actually shown on the big screens for the fans, and nobody seems to have any complaints. Bertrand trudges off, Southampton are a goal and a man down.
Updated
GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Leicester (Chilwell 10)
Chilwell miscues a cross right into the path of Barnes, who diverts a first-time shot towards goal. Gunn palms it out and Chilwell, who has the run on Valery at right back, is first to the ball. He simply sidefoots the ball into the net, with Gunn scrambling but unable to get to the rebound. 1-0!
Updated
9 min: Valery is very lucky boy! His backpass holds up in the wet grass, and Gunn only just gets to the ball before Barnes.
8 min: Harvey Barnes has the game’s first shot, a low curling effort that ends up a few yards wide of the far post. It was never really troubling Gunn.
5 min: The quality is poor. The rain is heavy, as are most people’s touches.
3 min: There is going to be some mistake - a comedy slip, perhaps - that leads to a goal tonight.
1min: It is – and I can’t emphasise this enough – an absolutely disgusting evening in Southampton. The rain is pouring down at a fairly acute angle.
Peeeeeeeeeep!
And we’re off. This is the first ever Premier League match which features two sons of former Premier League goalkeepers.
Updated
The teams are out, Southampton in their red and white with a black trim. Leicester in their royal blue.
Winter ball alert
Tonight will be the first fixture this season that we use the yellow winter ball. A fitting addition to what is a filthy evening. Get VERY excited about that.
“I agree that Brendan Rogers is a good manager,” emails J.R. in Illinois. “If I was going to say what I like about him I would say he seems like one weird dude and that he was possibly the most Brent-ian of managers until recently when I believe Phil Neville may have taken that title from him.”
This is worth a read: Nick Ames’s interview with Harley Willard, who was released by Southampton and is now playing in Iceland.
It’s absolutely tipping it down at St Mary’s Stadium. Not sure they needed those sprinklers.
Nobody has created more chances in the Premier League since the start of last season than James Maddison, who was extremely unlucky not to make his England debut over the international break due to illness, and even more unlucky to be pictured in a casino, shortly after he was released by Gareth Southgate for being ill.
Still, Brendan has got his back.
For Saints, this is what the bottom of the league currently looks like.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Brighton | 9 | -3 | 9 |
| 17 | Southampton | 9 | -7 | 8 |
| 18 | Newcastle | 9 | -9 | 8 |
| 19 | Norwich | 9 | -11 | 7 |
| 20 | Watford | 9 | -16 | 4 |
But this has been a rotten run of fixtures for the south club coast. After defeats to Chelsea and Tottenham, Southampton did well to get a 1-1 draw at Wolves last time out. This match comes before two consecutive matches away at Manchester City (one league, one cup) and then games against Everton and Arsenal. If they can get through those and remain just clear of the drop zone, Hasenhüttl will be delighted. Nobody is expecting a top-half finish.
Some pics as we gear up for kick-off.
Sunday will be the first anniversary of the death of Leicester’s owner, and Southampton have chosen to honour Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in their programme.
Fair play to Southampton for dedicating their match day programme to Vichai 👏🏻 #saintsFC #lcfc pic.twitter.com/bNtPWUj36j
— Leicester City News (@_LCFCNEWS) October 25, 2019
Here are the teams
Southampton: Gunn, Bednarek, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Valery, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Bertrand, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Ings.
Subs: McCarthy, Stephens, Long, Adams, Armstrong, Boufal, Danso.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Ndidi, Perez, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
Subs: Justin, Morgan, Gray, Albrighton, Ward, Choudhury, Praet.
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands)
Good ebening
Say what you like about Brendan Rodgers - and plenty have about envelope-gate and that portrait of himself hanging in the hallway of his house - but he is a very good football manager. It was touch and go there for a while - you can never be sure when somebody is managing Celtic - but when the Northern Irishman arrived in Leicester, it just felt like a very good fit. They are largely young, exciting players, devoid of many egos even though some of them remain Premier League winners, who are willing to get on board with Brendan-Ball and with a few wise, older heads keeping the dressing room in check, Leicester City are on the up again.
In fact, they could leapfrog Manchester City to go second tonight, with a win over Southampton. Not bad for a team with a net spend of just £15m in the summer.
Southampton are without a league win since a 1-0 win over Sheffield United six weeks ago, and just outside the relegation zone. With a modest squad, Ralph Hasenhüttl has done a reasonable job thus far, blooding academy youngsters and helping new recruits settle down: Moussa Djenepo looks particularly promising up front.
This is exactly the sort of game that Leicester need to win if they want to break the top four. But under the evening lights, St Mary’s always seems to have a little boost.
Kick off: 8pm BST.
I’ll have the teams with you shortly.
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