Well hello! Thanks for joining our live coverage of Southampton's first-leg Europa League playoff tonight as they clash with FC Midtjylland. Thank god this a text commentary, otherwise I'd offend a lot of Danes with my dodgy pronounciation. Elton obviously didn't know of this mob when he wrote Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word. Anywho, I'm Shane and I'll be taking you through all the action at St Mary's as the Saints look to put one foot in the group stages. Let's go.

Before we have a look at the teams, let's see how both sides came to be just 180 minutes from the group stages, shall we? Why not. Well, Southampton thumped Vitesse 5-0 over two legs, with a 3-0 first-leg win at St Mary's, while Midtjylland dropped into the playoffs after being eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers.

The Danish champions beat Lincoln Red Imps (don't ask) 3-0 in the first qualifying round, before bowing out of the Champions League on the away-goal rule following a 2-2 draw with APOEL. That will have hurt them and Jess Thorup's men will be keen for a pick-me-up of sorts tonight.

So, neither side had to do a whole lot to reach the playoffs, it turns out. Anywho, shall we crack on with a bit of team news? Of course. I'll have this soon.

SOUTHAMPTON XI:Stekelenburg, Caulker, Fonte (c), Yoshida, Targett, Wanyama, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Mané, Rodriguez, Pellè.

MIDTJYLLAND XI: Dahlin; Hansen, Sviatchenko, Lauridesen, Romer; Sparv, Poulsen, Andersson, Sisto; Royer, Rasmussen

SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: K. Davis (GK), Cédric, Long, S. Davis, Tadić, Martina, Juanmi

MIDTJYLLAND SUBS: Andersen, Banggard, Olsson, Hassan, Pusic, Urena, Onuachu

Right, we'll start with the hosts and, true to his word, Koeman names a strong team. We've got Mane. Pelle. Rodriguez. Wanyama. Ward-Prowse. Fair play to him. There's also a full debut for Oriol Romeu in midfield. Fair play to Koeman. He's not treating this competition any less than the Premier League.

Apart from being a commentator's worst nightmare, what else do we know about Midtjylland? Perhaps the most impressive thing about them is that they were only formed 16 years ago and already have a league title under their belts, having pipped Copenhagen - who had won six of the last 10 Super Ligas - to glory last term. They're no mugs, folks.

Let's talk about Sadio Mane and it looks like Manchester United are going to miss yet another target, after the man himself promised this young fan that he'll be staying at St Mary's. There's no going back pal!

Koeman obviously has no plans of selling either. In his pre-match notes, he told the club's official website: "We will always have rumours, but nobody is for sale. We like to continue with these players and that's the most important." So, it's settled, right? Wrong. There's still a good 11 or 12 days left in the window. I wouldn't be surprised to see this one go on a little longer.

Wanna hear what the Dutchman has had to say on Midtylland? Here we go: "It will be more difficult. They are the champions of Denmark and have a good organisation. They are strong and have confidence." You can see with his team selection that he really wants to reach the group stages.

PREDICTION! It's time to do what we always do and get a prediction stupidly wrong, but I'm on a 4-1 Southampton win. They lost 3-0 to Everton at the weekend, but they seem intent on doing well in this competition and I fancy them to put one foot in the group stages. There we go.

We're eight minutes from showtime, folks. Just eight minutes. Where does the time go?

KICKOFF: And we're off. Midtjylland, playing from left to right, get us underway. Big 90 minutes ahead for both these sides. Both obviously want a Europa League berth.

Southampton fans in good voice early on as they sing a song to the tune of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. I'm sure the lyrics are witty but I don't know what they are sadly.

BOOKING: Ominous start for the visitors as Lauridsen goes into the book for a late challenge on James Ward-Prowse. There's a disciplinary tightrope for him to negotiate for the next 85 minutes.

CHANCE! Big, big chance for the Saints to earn a one-goal lead as Rodriguez beats Lauridsen for pace before running through on goal at an angle, but he goes with his right foot instead of his left and it goes well, well wide. Disappointing finish that.

SHOT! Saints well on top, as Rodriguez turns provider to set up Mane, whose diagnal run see him move into a good position, but his first-time shot from outside the box, with his left foot, is saved by Dahlin.

CLOSE! Word-Prowse floats a wonderful free kick into the box, and QPR loanee Steven Caulker leaps highest to connect with itb but his looping header drops just wide of the mark. Good effort. Southampton well on top.

BOOKING: Plenty of action in this first 13 minutes as Romeu goes into the book for a challenge from behind on Lauridsen. Fair enough I think.

CLOSE! Not far away at all, and it's from Midtjylland, as Petter Andersson drills a first-time volley wide of Stekelenburg's post. Decent.

Rory Delap, is that you? Looks like the visitors have their own throw-in specialist in the form of Kian Hansen, who has produced a few nervy moments with his throw-ins thus far. Watch this space.

Really poor this. Romeu slips deep in his own half to present Jakob Poulsen, who has Ramussen ahead of him but his through ball is far too heavy and Stekelenburg collects. Shocking ball that.

We said Midtjylland weren't mugs, and they're proving that theory because they've been well on top for the last 12 minutes or so. Saints had a few early chances, but since then it's all Midtylland.

SAVE! Decent save this from Stekelenburg, who tips away Rasmussen's close-range header. At the other end, Romeu goes very, very close to marking his full debut in style as he blasts narrowly over the bar from range.

We've actually got the makings of a really good game here. It's end-to-end. Lots of full-blooded tackles and, in truth, this could go either way.

Brilliant run from Pione Sisto, who ghosts past Fonte on the left-hand side, but he runs out of pitch in the end. Pull it back pal! Something might've come from that.

Graziano Pelle has been anonymous in this first 35 minutes or so. He's won plenty of knock-downs, but he's done very little other than that. He's been far too quiet tonight.

Jay Rodriguez, who has had Southampton's best chance in this game, tries to make amends with an effort from 40 yards but, well, it's well over the bar. Poor effort.

SHOT! Shank of the year from Wanyama. The ball falls to him on the edge of Midtjylland's box as he looks like powering home, but he slices it terribly and it's out toward the corner flag.

Saints ended this half on top, but they're forcing the issue a little and they look slightly too desperate to score before the break. Still, you can't fault their effort.

SHOT! Romeu looks to bend home the opener, but Dahlin is equal to it. Good effort but it was never beating the Danish stopper. Good half this.

What a way to end the half as Tim Sparv, the Southampton old boy, drills home the opener past Stekelenburg totally against the run of play to snatch a half-time lead. Amazing. Not a hint of celebration from the midfielder either.

That's a real sickener for the Saints, who were comfortably the better side in that half. The visitors had their moments, but overall it was one-way traffic and Koeman will be disgusted. We said they were trying to force the issue too much, given that there was such a long way to go in this tie, and they've gone and given away a precious away goal.

RESTART: And we're back underway at St Mary's. Big 45 minutes for the hosts. Can they get back into this?

Saints kick off the second half with three successive corners, but Midtjylland deal with every single one of them effectively.

Visiting captain Sviatchenko has had a really good game. He's been a threat at both ends of the field.

DISALLOWED GOAL! Steve Caulker sees his header ruled out for climbing all over the defender en route to nodding home a corner. Probably the right decision there.

HEADER! Pelle is slowly but surely coming into the game, and his old-fashioned diving header is straight at Dahlin. He couldn't generate the power needed there so a good effort under the circumstances.

Rodriguez tucks away a fine penalty, which was earned when Ward-Prowse was fouled in the area following Pelle's knock-down. Good work from the Italian and we're all level. Interesting last 33 minutes now.

We have to fancy Southampton from here, don't we? They've got a 12th man in the form of a partisan crowd here at St Mary's and they want a first-leg win. Do Southampton? In theory, but let's see how much they want it.

Koeman's men in full control but they're not as fluent as they were prior to that goal. Bizarrely, the equaliser has taken the sting out of it somewhat. We predicted 4-1 Saints. Will we see another three goals? Unlikely.

SAVE! What a brilliant save as Dahlin tips Caulker's close-range header over the bar. Brilliant ball from Ward-Prowse but Caulker just can't get himself a goal tonight.

We've got 20 minutes to go then and, as it stands, the tie is finely poised. On this evidence, Midtyjlland could well cause the South-Coast club plenty of problems in the second leg in Denmark. Really, they need to win tonight.

Midtyjlland appear to be settling for a 1-1 first-leg draw. It's a result that certainly suits the visitors better than Southampton, but there's stil 16 minutes left so let's not count our chickens.

CLOSE! The ball falls kindly to Matt Targett on the left-hand side, but his first-time half volley skims agonisingly wide of the far post. The young left-back has been excellent tonight.

Ten minutes to go. Can Southampton nick it? Not on this evidence. It's all gone a bit Bjork in Highbury - very, very quiet.

CLOSE! What a goal this would've been as Ward-Prowse curls around the wall and just wide of Dahlin's post.

SUB: That was Ward-Prowse's last action as Juanmi replaces him for the last six minutes or so. Koeman is going for it. They've got three strikers on the field now. That's a big compliment for the visitors, because Koeman obviously doesn't believe 1-1 is enough.

Pelle needs to simmer down here before he gets himself sent off. He's a little hot under the collar after a recent decision went against him and he's just clattered into Anderson there, but the referee waves play on. Two minutes left.

Where did the fourth official pluck that number from? In any case, it's restored Southampton's belief as the fans cheer them on.

Lots of fans filter out now, but thousands still believe! And why not.

OFF THE POST! Maya Yoshida heads against the post! So unlucky for the Saints.

That's all she wrote here. Thanks for joining our live commentary and we'll see you next Thursday to see if 1-1 is enough for Southampton to reach the group stages. Until then....