Tottenham v Southampton ratings: Kulusevski 9, Kane 7; Lavia 7, Bednarek 5

Antonio Conte described Tottenham's dominant 4-1 win against Southampton as the "perfect start" to their Premier League season.

Conte took over as manager last November and transformed the London club's form to seal a top-four finish.

Some impressive business in the transfer market has raised expectations ahead of the new campaign and Tottenham responded with a vibrant performance.

Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier and Dejan Kulusevski were all on target as Tottenham responded in emphatic style after James Ward-Prowse handed Southampton an early lead against the run of play.

In the end it could have been a much bigger margin of victory but Conte was clearly more than satisfied with the intensity of his side's play.

"It was a perfect start for us, despite going behind," Conte told the BBC. "We conceded a goal but after this we continued to play and we continued to believe in what we are working on in the training sessions.

"I liked the game a lot for the result but especially the way in which the result was achieved - creating many chances to score, good possession, good high and medium pressure and we were good when we lost the ball and the intensity to try and get it back. I saw a lot of positive things."

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