Thanks for joining me for this intriguing Premier League encounter this afternoon.

The two managers could hardly differ more today, but on the pitch, they like their teams to play in a similar way - high tempo, possession football.

Ian Holloway returns from a two-game ban for this game of course, and I think most people would agree that he is definitely the type of manager you would miss on the touchline.

He'll be hoping to improve his side's fortunes today but it will be an uphill struggle against a talented Southampton side.

Despite scoring the joint-fewest goals so far this season, the Saints are up in seventh after their win at Anfield last week and their goals conceded tally is bettered only by Tottenham Hotspur.

On top of that Palace have only won once in their last 10 visits to Southampton, and have not beaten today's opponents in eight attempts in the Premier League.

There is hope for Palace fans. As I said, Ian Holloway being back in the dugout is a major plus and Southampton are yet to win at home this season, so if the visitors can keep the score level into the second half, the St Mary's crowd may just get a bit restless.

It will be interesting to see how the teams line up today. Will Holloway adopt a more cautious approach or will Southampton's lack of goals instil him with the bravery to play an attacking side?

From the hosts point of view, how many of the side from Tuesday's League Cup win have earned a starting place today, and will Mauricio Pochettino continue with Rickie Lambert and Pablo Osvaldo up front together despite the lack of goals.

And we can get the answers to those questions right now...

SOUTHAMPTON XI: Boruc; Clyne, Fonte, Lovren, Shaw; Wanyama, Schneiderlin, Davis; Lallana, Lambert, Osvaldo

CRYSTAL PALACE XI:Speroni; Ward, Mariappa, Gabbidon, Moxey; Dikgacoi, Jedinak; Bannan, Kebe, Gayle; Chamakh

SUBS: Southampton: Davis, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Ward-Prowse, Cork, Chambers, Hooiveld

Crystal Palace: Price, Parr, Campana, O'Keefe, Thomas, Jerome, Phillis

Southampton have decided to persist with Osvaldo and Lambert paired up front, supported by Lallana, and between you and I, this is the day that I expect it to pay off.

I think the Saints will have too much quality in attacking areas for their opponents today, and from what I've seen of Victor Wanyama in the heart of their midfield, Palace will have a difficult job creating anything through the middle!

That said, it will be interesting to see how Jimmy Kebe, Barry Bannan and Dwight Gayle are able to gel together, and whether they can create enough chances for Marouane Chamakh, who has looked much more confident since his move from Arsenal.

Gaston Ramirez is perhaps a little unlucky not to start in my opinion. He was instrumental in Southampton's League Cup win on Tuesday and with the lack of goals becoming an issue, his creative spark might be just what the side needed.

Saints fans are still yet to see the best of Osvaldo since his big money move. The Italian has shown flashes of genius but hasn't dominated games and hasn't scored. I really think today is the day that he changes all of that and finally gels with Lambert.

Southampton manager Pochettino has spoken to the media, through his interpreter, ahead of today's game: "We want to keep more possession than in the last game, so hopefully brining in Steven Davis will allow us to do that. We want to get out first home win today so we can congratulate our fans on their great support."

The teams are coming to the end of their warm-ups now and are heading back inside. The next time they come out onto the pitch, it will be for kick off!

PREDICTION: With less that ten minutes to go until the match starts, it might be time for a prediction. I think that the first goal will be crucial. If Southampton get it, their solid defence should be able to hold out for the win, however if Palace score early then the Saints fans and players could get nervy. I'm going to go for Southampton though. 2-0.

Speaking of the fans, St Mary's has usually been pretty loud for most games this season and if they can really get behind their side today then it will give the players a massive boost.

The players come out on to the pitch, Palace in their changed black away strip, Southampton in their usual red with white trim...

And we're off! The hosts get us underway...

Palace are comfortable in the first two minutes, dealing with a couple of long balls before getting the ball down and playing some nice stuff on the right with Kebe and Ward linking up.

Southampton are yet to put an attack together. They keep possession well in midfield but lose out after a foul on Jedinak. Palace come forward but Gayle is crowded out on the right and the hosts have the ball at the back again.

CHANCE! Just as I say that Palace fail to deal with a long ball towards Lambert. Schneiderlin backs up the play and heads the bouncing ball over the goalkeeper, but luckily for Palace Ward is there to clear off the line!

Palace win a free kick moments after Lallana thought he was fouled in the box. Banna delivers from the middle of the Saints half but the home side eventually get the ball out for a throw on the right.

Wanyama turns well in the middle and picks out Shaw on the left. The youngster beats his man but sees his cross cleared. Southampton come again on the left but play the ball inside this time to Lallana, who can't quite find Osvaldo with his flick.

Ward releases Kebe on the right but Lovren comes across and makes a good challenge. Ward takes the resulting throw on the right but Gayle loses out to Lovren and Southampton break.

Lallana finds Clyne on the left but his through ball on the inside right can't quite fine Osvaldo and the goalkeeper collects the ball.

CHANCE! Palace break again with Kebe through the middle. The former Reading man plays a one-two with Chamakh but loses out in the box, however Bannan is coming in on the left and shoots straight against Fonte.

Southampton have not found their passing game yet. Palace have filled the midfield and the hosts are finding it difficult with a lack of movement from Lallana in particular.

YELLOW CARD! Kebe, who has been causing problems for Southampton so far, breaks away from Davis in midfield. The Saints man pulls him back and receives the game's first booking.

Wanyama is starting to get on the ball more and more for the hosts. He tries to break forward and finds Lallana on the right, who in turn wins a throw in. Southampton work the ball across the pitch but Palace's pressing forces them back.

CHANCE! Southampton finally put a few passes together and it is their three forwards who link up. Osvaldo turns well in the box and plays the ball back for Lallana, who lays it off for Lambert but the England striker fires just over the bar from the edge of the box.

Jedinak is penalised for a hand ball on the left, just outside the box, after blocking Davis' cross. Lambert lines it up...

SAVE! Speroni scoops Lambert's low, powerful effort away but Shaw picks it up wide on the left, where he is fouled by Kebe.

YELLOW CARD! Chamakh, clean through on goal, is booked for diving by Martin Atkinson.

Ian Holloway is furious with that decision and to be honest, it could have gone either way as Chamakh left his leg for Boruc to wipe him out. I've seen them given, more often than not.

Kebe breaks free yet again on the right but with only Chamakh in the middle, his low cross is cut out and Southampton go forward. They spray it right to Lallana, who is crowded out and loses the ball.

Southampton are comfortable in possession right until they get into the final third, where their players are crowded out. The likes of Osvaldo and Lambert can't find any sort of space and it's making for a pretty boring game I'm afraid.

Gabbidon challenges Lallana and concedes a corner, which Palace deal with easily as Speroni catches the ball, before firing it into the right corner, where Chamakh wins a throw.

Ward collects the throw and drives inside before firing at goal with his left foot. Lovren gets in the way though, and Palace win a corner. It's delivered by Bannan but defended well by the home defence.

Southampton have a series of corners which Palace deal with but the pressure is still on. Jedinak goes down with head injury and the referee stops play.

The home side are continuing to keep the ball well in their own half but then lose out whenever they attempt to play it forward. Palace break again with Kebe and Gayle but they get the final pass wrong and Southampton clear for another throw deep on the right.

Wanyama's frustration gets the better of him as he fires a shot from 30 yards out which goes harmlessly wide. One minute of stoppage time.

Well, that game didn't really live up to my pre-match billing. I was hoping for an early goal but only on one occasion did we come remotely close to getting it.

If Schneiderlin had been able to put his header in in the first 15 minutes we might have had a different game, but to be fair to Palace, they've defended well. Southampton have offered very little in the final third but that is down to the visitor's organisation more than anything else.

The hosts have failed to get Lambert into the game at all, and Osvaldo has only had two or three noteworthy touches. Having seen them on a couple of occasions this season, I really don't think they can play as a pair. Southampton need someone who can get up and down the wing and make runs from deep, and I don't think it will be long before Jay Rodriguez enters the fray.

The talking point of the first half will be that Chamakh yellow card though. At first glance, it looked like a clear penalty but replays show the former Arsenal man was already on his way down before Boruc's contact. As I said at the time though, I've seen them given.

Palace have looked comfortable so far, and if they could just take a little more care on the break, then they may well take the lead here. It just depends whether Southampton can find any form before then.

The players are back out for the second half. Let's hope for a bit more action during this 45 minutes.

Palace get use back underway...

Well, I don't know what Pochettino said to his players at half time but it has worked. Clyne bursts down the right and plays the ball inside. It eventually falls to Lallana, who spins in the box and plays it to Osvaldo. The Italian touches the ball to his left and fires into the corner!

Wow! Southampton's two strikers have just put the their side right in the driving seat after a difficult first half. Two goals in two minutes for the home side! This time Lambert curls a fantastic free kick in from 25 yard out, off the post and past Speroni.

Didn't someone say that the two of them couldn't play together? What do I know. Two great goals from Southampton and they've got their tails up now, Palace need to hang on.

CHANCE! Southampton have upped the tempo this half, they play the ball quickly across the pitch and then fire in towards Osvaldo, who lays the ball off the Lambert but his volley goes just wide.

CHANCE! Another good chance for the home side. Lallana breaks on the right and finds Schneiderlin who plays the ball to Davis. The midfielder cuts inside the box but blazes the ball over the bar.

SUBSTITUTION: Palace make a couple of changes. Cameron Jerome and Jerome Thomas replace Bannan and Gayle.

As Palace push up a little more, there are more gaps for Southampton to exploit, and with their confidence high, the hosts look like scoring almost every time they go forward at the moment.

Clyne and Lambert combine on the right and find Davis in the box. He turns and tries to chip towards the back post but his effort is deflected for a corner.

Palace are being pushed back a lot now, they try to go long to Jerome but Fonte heads away for a throw-in. Moxey takes and Palace try to build from the right. They win another throw but eventually Kebe loses out to Shaw.

Southampton put together a nice move involving Lallana, Osvaldo and Davis but in the end Clyne's touch lets him down on the right and the ball goes out for a goal kick.

SUBSTITUTION: Southampton make a change, brining on James Ward-Prowse for Davis.

YELLOW CARD! Mariappa booked for a poor challenge on Shaw.

SUBSTITUTION: Palace throwing on Kevin Phillips now in place of Kebe as the look for a goal to get them back in the game.

Southampton are happy to sit back and play on the counter attack now. They trust their defence and they believe their work has been done, it'sup to Palace to force a goal and keep the game alive now.

Thomas wins a free kick in the Southampton half after a crunching challenge. Jedinak delivers but Southampton get it clear before Moxey fires over the bar from the edge of the box.

SUBSTITUTION: Lambert is replaced by Jay Rodriguez for Southampton.

A bit of a lull in the game again as both sides seem to have settled for what they have with ten minutes to go.

Good play from Phillips as he comes deep and plays the ball wide for Thomas. Fonte comes to meet the winger on the left and puts the ball out for a throw. Moxey takes and Palace win a corner.

DISALLOWED Rodriguez bundles the ball in after the goalkeeper had spilled his initial effort but the assistant referee's flag is up.

Palace put together and excellent move in the dying minutes as Moxey collects a clever pass from Jedinak and finds Jerome clear in the box, but the striker fires horribly wide.

Southampton seeing this game out quite comfortably now, passing the ball from side to side as Palace continue to press, to their credit.

It was comfortable for Southampton in the end, but that was a strange game. There was very little quality apart from a 15 minute spell after half time, in which Southampton scored two good goals and could have had more.

A couple of lapses in concentration and a moment of quality from Lambert are what did it for Palace in the end today, after an excellent defensive performance in the first half.

One thing I will say about Palace is that there is a distinct lack of Premier League quality among their attacking options, and as for the Saints, despite their goals, the Lambert/Osvaldo partnership doesn't look like it will be a success. Time will tell though.

Thanks for joining me and have a good evening.