68 miles separate Southampton and Brighton
Southampton and Brighton battle for south coast supremacy
by Conor Dunford
Southampton host Brighton on this week’s Monday night game, with both sides hoping to make headway into the top half of the Premier League table.
Southampton have managed to get the better of their South Coast rivals in recent meeting. The last time Brighton came away as winner in this fixture was back in 2012, when Southampton legend Rickie Lambert saw red. Now this is not the passionate derby you might imagine.
Southampton’s fiercest rivalry is traditionally with Portsmouth, whereas Brighton have a somewhat unusual rivalry with South London side Crystal Palace. To add some more confusion to the picture, traditional minnows Bournemouth are now the south coast’s top EPL side in a commendable fifth place.
This time around it is arguably Brighton, rather than the Saints, who are the club on the rise, a recent promotion to the Premier League was followed by a solid season under the tutelage of Chris Hughton. Brighton are hoping to add to that success with a top 10 finish this season.
The final game of the weekend will be played under new floodlights after upgrades were fitted at St Marys, and a pre kickoff lighting show is sure to excite the 30,000+ fans expected to pack the stands.
Southampton come into this game after getting their first win of the season, a 2-0 victory at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. They will be hoping that the international break has not stifled their momentum, with the likes of Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and Mario Lemina impressing in that win.
If the home side are to take all three point from this clash, they will be hoping that new signing Danny Ings continues the fine form he has shown since joining his boyhood club. Two goals in four games see him put firmly in as first choice for Southampton, and the key threat to Brighton’s hopes of a result.
Brighton hope to recover from a poor run of form, losing three of their last five games in all competitions, including a 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the Carabao Cup. They went into the international break with a 2-2 draw with Fulham, but showed immense character to come back from 2-0 down to secure a point.
Hughton will be looking to Glenn Murray to occupy the Southampton defence, who are suceptible to being bullied on occasion.
One of the key clashes on the pitch will be the battle between Murray and Danish centre back Jannik Vestegaard. With Murray being the main goal threat for the visiting side, Vestegaard will go a long way to keeping a clean sheet if he can nullify the threat of Murray.
Prediction: Southampton 2 : 2 Brighton
