Southampton and West Ham United shared the spoils at St Mary's Stadium on Sunday as they played out a goalless draw in the Premier League.
Both sides struggled to create chances in front of goal, but it was the hosts who came closest to breaking the deadlock in the second half when Rickie Lambert's header hit the post.
The stalemate has seen West Ham climb up to 10th place in the table, while Southampton rise to 11th.
Read Sports Mole's minute-by-minute report below to find out how the action unfolded.
Hello there and welcome to Sports Mole's live text commentary of today's Premier League meeting between Southampton and West Ham United at St Mary's Stadium.
It's already been quite an action-packed weekend of action, hasn't it? Let's hope for more of the same today on the south coast.
SOUTHAMPTON XI: Boruc; Clyne, Lovren, Fonte, Shaw; Schneiderlin, Rodriguez, Wanyama, Lallana; Osvaldo, Lambert
SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: K Davis, S Davis, Ramirez, Ward-Prowse, Guly, Chambers, Hooiveld
The Saints have made three changes in total to their starting XI, with Nathaniel Clyne, Luke Shaw and Jay Rodriguez all coming in.
WEST HAM XI: Jaaskelainen; Demel, Reid, Collins, O'Brien; Diame, Noble; Jarvis, Nolan, Morrison; Maiga
WEST HAM SUBS: Adrian, Rat, Tomkins, Collison, Taylor, Lee, Vaz Te
Not quite as many changes for the Hammers as Ravel Morrison replaces Stewart Downing in their only swap.
UPDATE: The full-time whistle has gone in today's Championship match at the Madejski Stadium and it has ended goalless between Reading and Brighton & Hove Albion. You can read our match report here.
So, what kind of game should we expect today? Well, both teams are looking to get back in the winning habit after suffering respective defeats in their last matches. West Ham went down 1-0 at home to Stoke City while Southampton lost by the same scoreline at Norwich City.
The emphasis is likely to be on Southampton considering that they are the home side. There's a fair bit of flair in that starting lineup, including club-record signing Pablo Osvaldo.
In contrast, expect West Ham to bide their time with a typical display of steeliness and determination. They need to start picking up points on the road though - they've won only once in their last 15 away games.
RECENT FORM:
SOUTHAMPTON: WDL
WEST HAM: WDL
A rare away win for West Ham today could take them up to as high as sixth place in the Premier League table after four matches. Meanwhile, victory for Southampton could see them reach the same position. Here's the current table in full.
HEAD TO HEAD: It's been fairly even between these two teams down the years, with Southampton winning 30 times to West Ham's 34. The first meeting was way back in 1922.
It was West Ham who came out on top last season, taking four points from their two matches against the Saints. While it was a 1-1 draw in this fixture, the Hammers romped to a 4-1 victory at Upton Park.
Big cheers from the crowd as Rickie Lambert's name is read out ahead of his 200th appearance for #SaintsFC. — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) September 15, 2013
Of course, it's a great afternoon for Southampton's very own England international Rickie Lambert today. He's already been given a great ovation from the home fans during the warm-up, and he is sure to get the full backing of supporters once the match gets underway.
PREDICTION TIME: These two teams have had identical starts to the season results-wise, so this one could be a close match. However, the home advantage should prove vital for the Saints against a West Ham side who have been poor on the road.
Just a quick note on the weather: the rain is coming down fairly consistently at St Mary's. It doesn't look like it will be stopping any time soon.
Here come the players!
The pre-match rituals are done and it will be Southampton to get this match underway. Here we go!
It's been a fairly even opening few minutes at St Mary's, with both teams looking to push forward whenever in possession.
Southampton are starting to assert their dominance a bit more now. The slick pitch looks to be aiding their passing style a bit more than West Ham. Still no decent chances yet though.
SAVE! Now we have a chance! Diame somehow works himself some space inside the area before trying to beat Boruc at his near post, but the goalkeeper is there to push the effort away.
SAVE! Incredible stop from Jaaskelainen! The ball falls to Osvaldo, who is in acres of space inside the box, but the Italian's shot is kept out at point-blank range by the Hammers goalkeeper. He really should have done better.
There are one or two tasty challenges flying in now, thanks partly to the conditions. The players and ball alike are zipping off the greasy turf.
CHANCE! Nearly the opening goal for Southampton. Shaw bursts down the left side before he tries to cut the ball back for Lambert. However, there are plenty of West Ham bodies lurking in the area and they clear the danger.
The hosts look more likely to break the deadlock at the moment. They're show much more adventure than West Ham and are using the width of the pitch better. Meanwhile, the visitors are finding it hard to make any progress in the final third.
West Ham have a crack at goal through Diame, whose speculative shot from about 35 yards flies high and wide. Boruc looked just a tad worried there for a moment.
CHANCE! Southampton break through Lambert, whose attempted pass is cleared, albeit poorly by Reid. The England international gets another bite of the cherry, but his low volley from the edge of the box is held by Jaaskelainen.
There are a few half-hearted penalty appeals from the West Ham fans as Maiga goes to ground following a minor tussle with Lovren. It looked like he may have been caught in the eye with a flailing hand. Either way, nothing given.
YELLOW CARD! The first booking of the afternoon goes to Diame, who cynically clips Lallana from behind.
DISALLOWED GOAL! West Ham think that they've scored, but the flag is up for offside. Jarvis, who was the player in question, had his shot saved by Boruc before Nolan put in the rebound. However, it won't count.
Schneiderlin is lucky not to get a card for what is a poor challenge on Diame. The midfielder lunged in there but referee Andre Marriner, who had an obstructed view of the incident, keeps his cards in his pocket.
Something of a half-chance for the home side as Rodriguez heads over from Lallana's free kick. A few of the West Ham players still seem aggrieved over Schneiderlin's tackle on Diame.
CHANCE! A spell of West Ham pressure ends with Morrison having a crack from about 25 yards, but the youngster's curled effort goes narrowly wide of the top corner. Five minutes left of normal time in the half.
Oh dear. The ball breaks for Shaw down the left side with plenty of his Southampton teammates waiting in the middle, but the defender slices his cross out for a goal kick. Cue groans of discontent from the home fans.
Two minutes of added time...
HALF TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 0-0 WEST HAM
The half-time whistle goes and it's goalless at the break between Southampton and West Ham United.
It wasn't the most inspiring 45 minutes that you'll see this weekend, but there were a few talking points. West Ham's disallowed goal could have gone either way, while Morgan Schneiderlin is lucky not to have got a yellow card or worse for his reckless lunge on Mohammed Diame.
On the balance of play, it would be fair to say that was Southampton's half. Mauricio Pochettino's side certainly created the better chances while showing more attacking intent than West Ham.
As for West Ham, they've made life very difficult for Southampton by being very hard to break down. However, what will concern Sam Allardyce is his side's lack of threat in the final third.
Right, time for the second half. It will be West Ham to get us underway again.
CHANCE! It's been a fairly lively start from both sides during the opening few minutes of the second half. Wanyama tries his luck from distance, and Jaaskelainen is forced to push the ball over for a corner. However, Lambert can only guide his header onto the post.
If any team looks like scoring right now it's Southampton. They've come out very positively following the interval.
CHANCE! Osvaldo plays Lallana in, but his touch is a heavy one and Jaaskelainen saves. Maybe the slick surface had something to do with that because the midfielder usually has excellent control of the ball.
It's all got a little bit disjointed in these last few minutes. Both sides are now struggling to keep hold of the ball in the torrential rain.
Diame angles a cross towards Nolan, but it's a woeful one that goes out of play. That kind of sums up how this match has turned.
SUBSTITUTION: West Ham make the first change of afternoon as Razvan Rat comes on for his Premier League debut in place of Guy Demel, who looks like he might have taken a bit of a knock.
YELLOW CARD: Mark Noble becomes the second West Ham player to go into the book after clattering Lovren from behind.
YELLOW CARD: Another booking now, this time for Southampton's Victor Wanyama as he chops down Ravel Morrison.
SAVE! What a stop from Jaaskelainen! Schneiderlin meets Rodriguez's cross with an acrobatic volley, but the Finn is there to push it away.
SUBSTITUTION: A second swap for West Ham now as Ricardo Vaz Te replaces Modibo Maiga.
YELLOW CARD: That's as clear a booking as you're likely to see as Joey O'Brien hacks down Schneiderlin from behind. Totally needless.
SUBSTITUTION: Southampton make their first change of the match, with James Ward-Prowse coming on for Adam Lallana.
SAVE! Jaaskelainen to the rescue again for West Ham as he pushes Lambert's curling effort around the post. Southampton get a corner out of it, but they fail to make it count.
SUBSTITUTIONS: The home side are forced into a second change as Calum Chambers replaces Luke Shaw, who appears to be struggling. Meanwhile, Matt Taylor comes on for Ravel Morrison for West Ham.
Ward-Prowse whips a devilish free kick deep into the West Ham penalty area, but the outstretched Fonte puts the ball wide.
Less than 10 minutes of normal time left and it looks like this one is heading for a 0-0 draw. It's not been too bad a second half, though it's hard to see anyone finding the net this late on as both sides seem happy with a point.
CHANCE! What an opportunity to win for West Ham to win it! Collins is picked out on the penalty spot, but he leans back and blasts the ball high over the crossbar. Someone with more composure there could well have buried that.
West Ham defender Reid had to go off briefly there to receive treatment for an injury, though he's back on now.
Four minutes of added time. Can someone snatch a late winner?
West Ham are pushing hard at the moment for a goal.
FULL TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 0-0 WEST HAM UNITED
The full-time whistle goes to bring an end to what was a poor match between Southampton and West Ham. There was the occasional flash of excitement, but the two sides were fairly woeful in attack.
Anyway, that's all from me for now. Thank you very much for your company and we hope to see you again soon on Sports Mole. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Written by
Jack Prescott
Jack Prescott
