Match Preview: Southampton v Brighton
If you asked us the last places on Earth we’d want to spend a Monday night, then the shortlist would probably consist of Aleppo, Caracas and Southampton.
Thanks to Sky Sports trying to con the nation into thinking Southampton v Brighton is some kind of local derby, it is the latter that we’ll be spending a Monday evening visiting as the Albion travel down the A27 looking for their first away goal and points of the season.
Last season Brighton were pretty horrific in most games following an international break, so Chris Hughton’s side will need to buck that trend if they are to leave St Mary’s with victory for only the second ever time.
Who are Southampton?
Southampton had 27 unbroken years of top flight football between 1978 and 2005, a remarkable record for a smaller club than some of the others to dine at the top table and who traditionally have never been big spenders. Hard times followed that relegation from the Premier League however and the club slipped into both administration and League One. They were bought by German businessman Markus Liebherr and under Nigel Adkins, secured back-to-back promotions under our mate Nigel Adkins to return to the top flight. Since then, they’ve appointed a host of top class managers such as Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman who consistently led them to top 10 finishes despite the club agreeing to become a feeder side to Liverpool whom they sold all their best players too. That, coupled with overinflated expectations from supporters who hounded Claude Puel out for “only” finishing eighth and reaching a League Cup Final led to a season of struggle last time out.
What are they like now?
Not as good as they were. Saints supporters wanted Puel’s boring football replaced by an attacking game and Mauricio Pellegrino was bought in to supply that. In a classic case of “be careful what you wish for”, it resulted in the Saints going backwards and only surviving relegation into the Championship on the final day of the season. Mark Hughes had replaced Pellegrino by that point and he remains in charge this season. Southampton have an identical record to the Albion so far, with one win, one draw and two defeats from their four league games.
Which players should we be worried about?
If Hughes has any sort of sense, then he’ll have Charlie Austin involved for Southampton. Austin has six goals in eight games for four different clubs against the Albion, including the winner last time we met a few weeks ago in the Carabao Cup. He’s just one of those players who always seems to net against us and if his name is on the team sheet then we could be in trouble. Another striker to look out for is Danny Ings who has two goals in four games so far since his big money move from Liverpool while Anthony Knockaert will have to be at his best to get any change out of Ryan Bertrand.
What’s the Albion’s record like against Southampton?
There have been 86 meetings across all competitions between Brighton and Southampton, with the Albion winning 26, Southampton 39 and 21 draws. The draw has been the most common top flight result with five in 10 meetings including our two meets last season, both of which ended 1-1. The draw at St Mary’s proved to be a frustrating evening for the Albion as Glenn Murray put the visitors 1-0 up, after which we sat back and simply tried to defend our way to a result for the remaining 75 minutes. Before that, Southampton had looked there for the taking.
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Southampton away?
Nobody gave the Albion much of a hope going to St Mary’s in November 2009. Russell Slade had just been sacked and we were in real relegation trouble with rookie boss Gus Poyet at the helm. In a sign of what was to come under Poyet, Brighton were superb and surprised everyone by winning 3-1 through goals from Andrew Crofts and a Murray double.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Southampton away?
We walked out with just an hour played of our visit in November 2011 as Brighton were 3-0 down, down to 10 men after Mauricio Taricco’s dismissal for dissent and yet to muster a shot on goal. Things didn’t get much better after the game either as one member of the WeAreBrighton.com team went on to be horrifically sick all over the dance floor of Brighton nightclub Pasha at 1am in the morning.
Whose played for both sides?
Dean Hammond and Dan Harding both received plenty of abuse during their spells at Southampton as we did battle for the League One title. It’s a much forgotten fact that Inigo Calderon nearly joined them on the Judas list. The Spanish full back had agreed to move to the Saints on a free after turning down a new Brighton contract at the end of the 2009-10 season before having a last minute change of heart. Poyet rewarded his u-turn with the vice captaincy and the rest, as they say, is history.
Other than football, what’s Southampton famous for?
It’s port plays host to some of the largest cruise ships in the world and it was also where the Titanic set sail from. The Spitfire was developed in the city while it was heavily bombed during World War II which goes part of the way to explaining why the place is so bloody horrible now. Southampton is also well known for it’s garage scene, which is apparently some sort of music as opposed to a spare area of the house you can keep a dead body. Craig David, Artful Dodger, David Craig and Royal-T all come from the city.
Where’s the betting value for Southampton v Brighton
Southampton v Brighton should be in theory one of the easier games to predict when it comes to betting on sports online this season. As already noted, most top flight games between the two end in draws and both managers will prioritise not losing the game over winning. That should make for another stalemate, which is available at a best priced 12/5. If you fancy Austin to continue his remarkable scoring record then he is 2/1 to score anytime while Murray also likes a goal against Southampton and is available at 11/4.
Prediction
A repeat of both of last years Premier League fixtures, a 1-1 draw.
