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Southampton have sacked manager Russell Martin after a 5-0 thrashing by Tottenham on Sunday left them nine points off Premier League safety.

Martin, 38, guided the Saints to promotion last year in his first season in charge, beating Leeds United in the play-off final at Wembley.

But the loss against Spurs was Southampton's 13th in the league this campaign from 16 games.

Their only win this season was against Everton in November, while the St Mary's club have scored a league-low 11 goals.

"Going into the start of the season, we all knew the challenges that we would face this year as we readjusted to life in the top flight, competing in the best and most competitive league in the world," said a Southampton statement.

"However, the reality of our situation is clear. The board have supported Russell and his staff and been open and transparent regarding our expectations.

"We have all been on the same page in recognising the urgency of needing results to improve.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank Russell and his staff for all the hard work and dedication they have given the club on and off the pitch over the last 18 months.

"Everyone connected with Southampton FC will always have fantastic memories of last season, especially the play-off final win in May."

Southampton Under-21s manager Simon Rusk will take interim charge of the senior side and his first game will be a Carabao Cup quarter-final at home to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Wednesday.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou speaking to TNT Sports after their win: "It was outstanding by the players. We had a tough European game away on Thursday night. We had 10 first-team players unavailable tonight and for the lads to come out with that much energy. We had to come out quickly because we knew we were going to get tired. We are asking a lot of our layers and the quality and energy showed was outstanding."

On scoring so early: "We've had great opportunities in the last few games early on and if we'd have taken them then you put pressure on the opposition. I said to them before the game let's be ready, let's have a fast start. It was great endeavour by Djed and a great finish by Maddison."

On Djed Spence: "He has had to bide his time, to be fair to him whenever he has played he has done well. We haven't been able to give him too much game time because full-back is one of the positions we have a bit of cover but we needed him to come in and play at a good level and he did. It's a credit to him."

On Destiny Ugodie's injury: "He felt something but he wanted to continue. We can't take risks at the moment. I don't think it's anything too bad."

'Chelsea are maybe even more in-form than Liverpool'

Chelsea v Brentford (19:00 GMT)

Chelsea are "maybe the best team in the Premier League right now", says Brentford manager Thomas Frank.

Enzo Maresca, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino in June, has led the Blues to six straight wins in all competitions.

Four successive league wins have taken Chelsea second in the table, four points behind leaders Liverpool.

"They are maybe even more in-form than Liverpool, even though they are top of the league," said Frank.

"They are playing incredible football and are well-coached. Maresca has done a top job so far with his coaching staff and they look extremely dangerous.

"They have so many threats going forward and have top-quality players all over the pitch. I expect an unbelievably difficult game.

"They are massive favourites but, of course, we believe that we can compete against anyone and we believe we can win."

'I can see why talk of Chelsea winning trophies is growing'

Chelsea v Brentford (19:00 GMT)

Fara Williams

BBC Sport columnist

Chelsea have to be considered as being in the Premier League title race given their league position and the amount of points they have on the board.

They remain the closest side to league leaders Liverpool and are in the fight.

Some of Enzo Maresca's players were at the club last year and they proved to be inconsistent, but this season they are showing they can perform consistently week to week. They seem to have found their rhythm in and out of possession and that comes down to understanding what Maresca wants from them.

Looking around him, Maresca will see that Manchester City have tonnes of experience, Liverpool won the title in the 2019-20 season and Arsenal have come close in the last few years.

Those teams know what is needed throughout the season to keep up with the challenge. Chelsea have not been in this position for a long time. Therefore, I understand why Maresca is playing down talk of the title race because he has a very young squad and he is trying to take away some of the pressure on them.

But they should still believe they are in the fight because Arsenal fans still do. Liverpool could still drop a number of points and we have seen it from them before.

The only difference is that the Reds seem to playing better and are more consistent in their performances.

Chelsea have the bonus of playing almost a second team in the Conference League and their squad depth could be an advantage when the upcoming festive schedule is congested.

For those competing in the Champions League it will be harder to rotate their squads because it is a more difficult competition. Arsenal, Liverpool and City are basically playing the same squad in the Premier League and Europe.

I can see why the talk of Chelsea winning trophies is growing.

'Maybe the only game I felt the other team was better than us'

Chelsea v Brentford (19:00 GMT)

Liverpool boss Arne Slot said on Friday that Chelsea were the only team that have been better than them in a game this season.

The Reds beat the Blues 2-1 at Anfield in October.

"It was one of the games, maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us," said Slot.

"That's not to say for the long term they are better than us but during the game they had more ball possession than us and were threatening us more than any other team until now.

"I'm not there to judge which position they will end in the league table. I have to focus on my own team but Chelsea have been impressive this season so far, that's for sure."

Chelsea are bizarrely stretched all of a sudden

Chelsea v Brentford (19:00 BST)

Nizaar Kinsella

BBC Sport football news reporter

There's a festive feel at Stamford Bridge as the Christmas trees and lights have gone up around the stadium.

And there's a good feeling around the club following six consecutive wins in all competitions.

But Chelsea's bench is a little thinner than usual with three academy players - Josh Acheampong, Samuel Rak-Sakyi and Tyrique George - among the substitutes.

Of the three, the situation around Acheampong is the most interesting as he was previously frozen out of not just the first team but also Under-21 squad.

However, contract talks are once again alive and, according to manager Enzo Maresca, he is "close" to signing a new deal despite speculation linking him with Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.

'Werner hasn't reached the level'

Southampton v Tottenham (19:00 GMT)

Phil Jones

Former Manchester United defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

I don't think there was anything wrong with [Ange Postecolgou's comments about Timo Werner].

He's made his point. He is frustrated and angry. He wants to win and be successful. People might think it may have been a bit harsh and shouldn't have called him out. But they asked him a question and he has answered the question.

He wants winners and players who can run through a wall for him. He want people who will suffer in the game. These are the types of situations where he will want players to get through and suffer.

They need to find a way through it and they won't do that if players like Werner do not show up. He is an international player and will know what is expected of him and he hasn't reached the level.

'It's not about Timo - it's about who we are'

Southampton v Tottenham (19:00 GMT)

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said Timo Werner's performance in the 1-1 draw at Rangers was "not acceptable" as he hauled the German off at half-time.

Unsurprisingly he was asked a few questions about it at the news conference before this game.

"It wasn't criticism - it was an assessment of his performance. On a really challenging night for us, which we knew going into it, he needs to be better," said the Australian.

"Collectively, we're in a fight here. I'm not going to go around worrying about people's bruised egos.

"We're down to the bare bones in players. If there's somebody in that dressing room who is fit and able to contribute that feels like he needs something extra at this moment, he's probably not the right type.

"We've got 15 fit players, so I'm not going to go around trying to get extra out of people. If they don't give extra right now, it kind of gives me an indication of where they're at.

"I get that everything's about Timo, but Timo's not where our season is at. It's not about Timo - it's about who we are and the situation we're in right now. If somebody else doesn't perform to their levels in the situation we're in, we're going to suffer for it because we've only got a certain amount of players.

"It's not about bringing somebody down or blaming someone. We've got a limited amount of players, we're really stretched, we've got big games that can set up our season and it's a great challenge. I want people who are up for that challenge and relishing the opportunity to be out there. This is not a time for us to be worried about people's mindset."

The former Germany international is on the bench today.

Sutton's prediction

Chelsea v Brentford (19:00 GMT)

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

I really admire the job Thomas Frank has done with Brentford because, under him, they have evolved as a team and grown as a club.

But this is another pretty obvious prediction, because the Bees are awesome at home and useless away.

I really can't see past a Chelsea win here, with Cole Palmer's Panenka penalty against Tottenham illustrating how high their confidence is.

The way they are playing, they are definitely title contenders, no matter how many times their manager Enzo Maresca denies it.

It will be odd for fans to have a game starting so late on a Sunday night, but the Premier League have caved in to teams who want a bit of extra rest after playing in Europe on Thursday.

I'm not sure the Premier League have thought this through, and they might have opened a can of worms here.

All teams like to complain about not getting enough rest, especially over Christmas, so the Premier League probably need to come up with a minimum time period that teams should have between games, and stick to it.

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.

For week 16, he takes on darts star Stephen Bunting, who is a Liverpool fan.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

This should be a great game of football.

It is one for the purists really, because Southampton will play their defined style under Russell Martin and Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham will definitely do the same.

Both managers have been criticised recently and some of the stuff written and said about Postecoglou, after Spurs lost to Chelsea, was staggering, although it is the same after every defeat.

As I said on the Monday Night Club, on their day, Spurs are the best team to watch in the Premier League, but they are just patchy.

They should get over the line here though, because Southampton have bigger problems.

It looks like Saints are going to get relegated, but I hope they see the bigger picture when it comes to Martin.

For starters, he got them promoted, which wasn't an easy job. Keeping them up was always going to be even harder but, because Southampton have had a pretty recent spell of doing OK in the Premier League, their fans think they should be doing much better.

It was a similar story with Leicester City under Steve Cooper, where expectations were unrealistic. He got the sack but I hope Saints stick with Martin because. with a bit of patience. they could come back stronger.

Bunting's prediction: 0-2

Tottenham have been terrible but Southampton keep losing. I think they are going down, aren't they?

Rangers had belief that they could beat Celtic in Sunday's Scottish League Cup final even before their fine midweek display in drawing with Tottenham Hotspur, according to manager Philippe Clement.

The Belgian also stressed it is "not about me" when asked about the importance of beating the Scottish champions for the first time since he took charge at Ibrox.

Clement had suggested Rangers were preparing for two games against teams who were "financially out of our league" before facing Spurs in the Europa League and Celtic in the domestic final three days later.

But, asked if the 1-1 draw with the Premier League side gave his side more belief heading to Hampden, he replied: "If you don't have belief, as a player of a manager, you cannot play like you did yesterday.

"It starts with belief before the game - not during the game."

Clement also pointed to Rangers' 4-1 win away to Nice in the Europa League last month.

"I know their contracts and what they pay in transfers, so it is a big difference," he said. "Like I said about Tottenham, it is not only about that."

Clement has faced Celtic five times as Rangers manager, losing four times, with a 3-3 draw at Ibrox in April being the one exception.

"I think we have a more energetic squad than we did last season," he said. "That's why decisions were made to rebuild the squad.

"You had last season a squad where we had an older squad and had less legs than the year before. We pushed out a lot last season and in the end the legs were going in maybe the last couple of weeks."

Clement thinks his squad has improved, especially tactically, since their 3-0 September defeat at Celtic Park in the one previous Old Firm derby this season.

"Last year, with less energy, we were very close and should have won the cup final," he suggested, referencing May's 1-0 loss in the Scottish Cup. "The team believes it is making steps in every sense, so it is about doing that again on Sunday."

Celtic have had two extra days recovery time after Tuesday's 0-0 draw away to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

"I am not busy with that," Clement said while insisting it was too early to say whether in-form centre-half John Souttar would recover in time from the injury that forced him off before half-time against Spurs.

"I am just busy on recovering fast and focusing on ourselves. It is about recovery and then to pick the right squad to get some fresh legs in the team."

Clement was also not concerned about recent history favouring Celtic.

"Celtic are a team who are really good on the ball with a lot of quality players," he added.

"So we need to play a very mature game, well organised, but we need to play our football also and create our chances, like we have been doing in the last couple of weeks."

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou insists he is not going to worry about player's "bruised egos" after saying Timo Werner's performance "wasn't acceptable" in their 1-1 Europa League draw with Rangers.

Werner, 28, was substituted at half-time after losing possession 16 times, not winning any of his five duels and only completing 69% of his passes.

The German forward's replacement, Dejan Kulusevski, scored Spurs' equaliser in the 75th minute at Ibrox.

Postecoglou said on Friday he did not regret criticising Werner in public because his views were "an assessment".

Former Chelsea player Werner, who is on loan from RB Leipzig, has only scored once in 19 appearances for Tottenham.

Postecoglou added: "Criticism is saying something that's not really helpful. Assessment is trying to give people feedback to try to make them better and give people the opportunity to improve.

"With Timo it wasn't about whether he played well or not. It was a difficult game. I'm asking 18-year-olds to do difficult jobs.

"He's an international, he's won the Champions League, he's a senior player.

"There's a level of application you need to rise to, to raise the team. He didn't reach that.

"Timo is not where our season is at. It's not about Timo. It's not about bringing somebody down and blaming somebody."

Tottenham, who are 11th in the Premier League table, travel to Southampton on Sunday in a 19:00 GMT kick-off.

With limited attacking options - both Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are currently sidelined - Postecoglou said Spurs face a "great challenge" adding: "I want people who are up for that challenge.

"We're in a fight here. I'm not going to go away worrying about people's bruised egos.

"We're here to win things. If there's somebody in the dressing room who's fit who feels he needs something extra in this moment, he's probably not the right type."

Southampton have lost just one of their last six home league games against Tottenham (W2 D3), going down 5-2 in September 2020.

Tottenham have only failed to score in one of their last 22 Premier League meetings with Southampton, a 1-0 away loss in January 2020.

Southampton have scored in each of their last 15 Premier League games against Tottenham, their longest scoring streak against an opponent in the competition’s history.

Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League games against sides starting the day bottom of the table (W10 D3), since a 1-0 loss at West Bromwich Albion in May 2018. Spurs have scored 42 goals in this run, netting at least three times in each of the last eight.

Southampton have won just one of their last 28 Premier League games (D6 L21), with their 1-0 win over Everton in November their only clean sheet in their last 27 in the competition.

Tottenham have lost 14 of their 33 Premier League games so far in 2024 (W14 D5), just one fewer than they did in 42 games in 2023. They last lost 15+ league games in consecutive calendar years in 2002 (15), 2003 (20) and 2004 (15).

In their first 11 Premier League games this season, Tottenham faced an average of just 9.6 shots and 3.4 shots on target per game. In their last four, they’ve faced 18.8 shots and 6.8 shots on target per game.

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min has scored more goals (10) against Southampton than he has any other Premier League opponent, while he has also provided the joint-most assists against the Saints (5, level with Man City).

Ben Brereton hasn’t won any of his 24 Premier League games in spells at Sheffield United (14) and Southampton (10), drawing six and losing 18. Only Oliver Burke (25) has had a longer winless run from the start of a Premier League career.

Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski could make his 100th Premier League appearance in this match, with his first also coming against Southampton back in February 2022. He has 21 assists in the league, with only Son Heung-min providing more for Spurs since his debut (24).

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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says Timo Werner's performance was "not acceptable" after replacing him at half-time in the 1-1 Europa League draw at Rangers.

The German forward, 28, lost possession 16 times, did not win any of his five duels and only completed 69% of his passes.

Former Rangers striker Steven Thompson, covering the game for BBC Sportsound, said at the time: "Timo Werner's final decision on the ball so far has been abysmal.

"I'll be amazed if he's not hooked at half-time."

Werner was indeed replaced before the players came out for the second half by Dejan Kulusevski, who went on to score a 75th-minute Spurs equaliser after Hamza Igamane had given Rangers the lead two minutes into the second half.

"When you've got 18-year-olds [in the squad], it [that performance] is not acceptable to me," said Postecoglou.

"I said that to Timo, he's a German international."

Former Chelsea forward Werner, who is on loan from RB Leipzig, has only scored once in 19 appearances. This was his eighth start.

Tottenham forwards Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are currently sidelined and Postecoglou added: "In the moment we're in right now - it's not like we've got many options - I need everyone to at least be going out there and trying to give the best of themselves.

"His performance in the first half wasn't acceptable.

"We need everybody, including him, to be contributing because we don't have the depth to leave people out if they perform poorly. I expect a level of performance from some of the senior guys, and tonight wasn't that."

The draw at Ibrox left Tottenham with only one win in their last eight games in all competitions.

It's extraordinary how quiet nearly 50,000 people can be.

Ibrox, a place of unending noise all night, fell silent five minutes from the end when Cyriel Dessers turned inside Archie Gray and looked to all the world like he was going to win it for Rangers.

In that split-second, the stadium held its breath. Suddenly, it was about as boisterous as a mouse tip-toeing around a library full of an order of silent monks.

Dessers did brilliantly, but not brilliantly enough. This city knows all about the goalkeeping excellence of Fraser Forster. His years at Celtic were full of stellar saves from some of the greats of Europe.

The Rangers striker is hardly one of those, but the save was valuable all the same.

Fair to say that a point, rather than the three they would have expected, didn't do a whole lot to put smiles on Spurs' faces, but the alternative would have been ghastly for the visitors, who probably got more than they deserved in the end.

You have to imagine that Ange Postecoglou was in the ears of his Tottenham players all week, telling them of the dangers of Ibrox, warning them that there was a battle ahead.

For all his dominance as Celtic manager, Postecoglou won only one of four times in this place. He knew. His players? Not a clue.

They arrived like tourists lost in a hostile city. They gave the impression of a team that expected Rangers to swoon at the feet of a monied Premier League side.

Languid, lethargic, lazy in possession. And ransacked, constantly.

The terrific Nicolas Raskin mugged Rodrigo Bentancur early on and you took a note. Nice moment that got the crowd going, but could Rangers keep up that work rate and physicality? For how long could they impose their intensity?

Then Pedro Porro was done by Jefte and Raskin, again, brushed off Yves Bissouma. Spurs were nowhere near the pitch of it. They looked weak. Soft. Unprepared. Rangers looked ready.

Whatever Spurs thought Rangers were going to throw at them, aggression was guaranteed. Quality could be not be banked on - they had plenty of it as it turned out - but passion and heart absolutely could.

On the touchline, Postecoglou was going potty, somehow managing to gesticulate wildly in six different directions at the same time in the kind of fluid movement that was utterly beyond the players he was berating.

Ibrox rocked as the visitors toiled. Radu Dragusin passed one into touch. Timo Werner gave the ball away with a staggering consistency. Brennan Johnson was easily dispossessed, then started blowing as if already tired.

Barely half an hour had gone. Tottenham were in trouble.

Little moments had the home fans in raptures. James Maddison tried an outside of the right foot cross-field ball to Werner, but Vaclav Cerny intercepted with ease.

Paraphrasing and removing the expletives, the general reaction from Rangers people was: 'Save the showboating for down south, son'.

Raskin and his band of marauders kept snapping, kept living in the face of their counterparts.

Werner was here in body but not in heart. He became a mistake machine in the face of Rangers pressure. Johnson, the same. Got it, got hustled off it, then got taken off, as did Werner.

Kulusevski was the break-class–in-case-of-emergency replacement at the break and he delivered. But before he did, Rangers made them suffer a little more.

Two minutes into the new half, James Tavernier, the captain emerging from a grim patch of form, did outstandingly to run away from Johnson and curl one into the path of Igamane.

The striker, wholly unconvincing until recently, finished with aplomb. It was deserved. Rangers had the better of it on all fronts to that point and now they had the lead to show for it.

Maybe Spurs couldn't believe what they were seeing. And maybe they weren't alone. Rangers have been improving of late, but theirs has been a soft recovery.

The characters who were calling for the head of their manager, Philippe Clement, only a matter of weeks ago had been silenced, but it was an uneasy truce, always liable to flare up again when things go wrong.

This Rangers had not been seen for a while. Belligerent, but also good on the ball. Pacy, threatening, solid enough at the back even after they suffered the huge loss of their best defender, John Souttar, after little more than half an hour.

And this Ibrox was a force, too. Loud, deliriously happy, thunderously angry - an unsettling wall of noise.

All the while, Postecoglou waved and flapped and turned away in fury when one of his players - many of his players - went backwards.

What he had was a cavalry to call on. Kuluseveski was a game-changer. Dominic Solanke was a big presence, too, in the salvage job. They were both involved in the equaliser, Kulusevski finishing.

Postecoglou barely moved. Maybe his heart was singing. Maybe not.

It was frenetic and fractious in the 15 minutes that followed. Solanke came close, but Tavernier came up with a big defensive moment to deny him.

The Dessers chance was it. That was the moment, or could have been.

Forster got them out of jail, but Postecoglou's trial goes on. One win in eight is an uncomfortable case for the defence.

For Rangers, a League Cup final to come at the weekend against Postecoglou's old and firing team.

A few weeks back, that final looked like a bit of a formality for Celtic. Now? If Rangers can build on the best of this they'll have something to say, for sure.