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Southampton & Brighton Have A Point To Prove

The Premier League returned with a vengeance yesterday after the international break, and if you caught a glimpse of Match of the Day then you’ll understand what we’re talking about. From the top of the league to the very bottom we saw clubs scratching and clawing in a desperate attempt to build some momentum, and while some succeeded, others obviously failed. We’ve got two more delicious games to drool over this afternoon, but on top of that, we’ve also got an edition of Monday Night Football to look forward to – and while it may not be the most attractive of games on the face of it, it’s certainly one that we’ve got our eye on.

Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion are two of the clubs representing the South Coast in the top flight of English football, and they’ve served them well over the last few years. While the Saints have certainly slipped down from the point they were at, they can still look back on their achievements with a smile on their faces. Brighton, on the other hand, are known for defying the expectations, which is something that you could argue they’ve specialised in over the last few years. So then, given that they’re going to lock horns in less than 36 hours, it seems appropriate to have a look at their ‘journeys’ that got them to this point.

That’s probably going to sound a little bit overdramatic, but such is the nature of what Premier League football does to us. It is undoubtedly one of, if not the one and only greatest league in the beautiful game today, if only for the unpredictability associated with it. Again, there are alternative arguments that could be made pretty successfully with La Liga and Serie A both being incredible divisions to watch, but there’s something about the drama and passion for the game that we have in this country that we just can’t seem to shake off. It really is infectious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FFRtle95rg

Neither one of these teams are expected to do much this season in the realms of reaching the top half, and a lot of people will be viewing this encounter as a relegation six pointer. Some of you may agree with that and others won’t, but regardless, every single game is vitally important even at this early stage. Three points could well be the difference between glory and disaster, and we saw an example of that last season with one of the most competitive relegation battles we’ve ever seen.

In terms of the present day, though, the Saints and the Seagulls are separated by just two goals in the table as they lie in 13th and 14th respectively. They began their campaign with a somewhat disappointing 0-0 draw against Burnley, which would prove to be a warning sign that needed addressing. They followed that up with consecutive 2-1 losses against Everton and Leicester City, before ironically springing into life with a League Cup win over their opponents tomorrow Brighton. They also picked up their first win of the Premier League season just before the international break, easing to a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace.

Brighton have also had some mixed emotions to deal with, and that seems to be the fairest way to phrase it. They lost their opener 2-0 against Watford who went on a fantastic run to start off the season, but they responded brilliantly with a 3-2 win over Manchester United – proving that their great home form was going to serve them well again this season. They then put in an admirable display against the free scoring Liverpool, limiting them to just a 1-0 loss. The aforementioned defeat against Southampton in the cup followed that, but they cut the losing streak off at the knees with a 2-2 draw against moneybags Fulham.

Across the course of football history these two clubs have battled on more than one occasion, with Southampton leading the overall head to head standings 33-20 with 16 draws between them. Obviously, their last meeting ended fairly well for the Saints in the League Cup, but their Premier League encounters last season were a different story. Both games ended 1-1, which was the first time they’d played one another in league football since 2012 courtesy of Brighton being down in the Championship.

Options are the key to success in many aspects of football, and if Southampton are going to come away with the three points, they’ll need to rely on some familiar faces. Charlie Austin, Danny Ings and Shane Long should all be made available for this one with all three suffering from different injuries, and it’ll be intriguing to see how Hughes sets up his starting XI as a result. Aside from that the international break served them well with no new injury problems to speak of, and because of that, there’s always a chance that he goes with the same team that was able to overpower Crystal Palace a few weeks ago.

Brighton fans will be happy about their availability this week too, with Jose Izquierdo and Andone both being tipped to make their first appearances of the season respectively at St Mary’s. Both have had fitness concerns to deal with, but now, it seems as if we could finally get a glimpse of them in action. As well as that both Bruno and Lewis Dunk are back from injury, and while there could be a bit of rust to shake off, they’ll be confident that they can give Southampton a good game one way or another.

Southampton vs Brighton Betting Prediction

Both clubs have a tendency to be quite conservative, and if this game was being place in Brighton, it feels like we’d be seeing a very different story play out. It seems foolish to suggest that this isn’t going to be entertaining given that Monday Night Football has produced some classics over the years, but we’ve been burnt before when thinking that. It seems as if Southampton are going to surge forward in an attempt to intimidate Brighton, but if we’ve learned anything about Chris Hughton’s side, it’s that they don’t scare particularly easy.

Still, the Saints will have their home fans backing them under the lights in what will be a lively atmosphere, and we think that’ll be enough to put them ahead before the half hour mark or so. Brighton will then come forward in numbers after the break but we don’t think they’ll be able to break Southampton down, with the hosts edging out a 1-0 victory. Given the strength of both team’s schedules in the next few weeks, though, they’ll both see this as a game that they can’t afford to lose.