Key events
22 min: Now it’s Walker-Peters’ turn to thank his lucky stars for a fuss-free referee. He wrestles Pedro to the ground, and, well, you’ve seen yellow flashed for less. When the game restarts, Estupinan crosses from the left, and O’Riley flashes a header harmlessly over the bar from the edge of the box.
20 min: Dibling is again clipped mid-dribble, this time by Mitoma. A fussier referee might have booked the Brighton man. Fernandes swings the resulting free kick into the box from the right; it’s easy pickings for Verbruggen.
18 min: Archer’s shot-cum-cross from the right is deflected out for a corner. The set piece leads to some head tennis, but Brighton eventually clear their lines. Southampton’s best form of defence may well be attack.
17 min: The exciting young winger Dibling advances elegantly down the inside-right channel and is stopped in cynical style by O’Riley. Into the book he goes.
16 min: Brighton patiently probe … and then Rutter takes a couple of touches infield from the right and sends a rising curler across Lumley and off the left-hand post. The ball crashes away from danger. So close to the opener.
15 min: It was all Southampton for the first three minutes. Since then, that Manning cross aside, they’ve barely had a touch. Brighton settling into doing what Brighton do.
14 min: Welbeck is thankfully fine to continue.
13 min: Welbeck stays down, his ankle requiring a look. On comes the physio. “I know the talking point is positive about him, but I still think it’s harsh to say Welbeck has ‘quieted down’ after three matches without a goal,” begins Adam Becker. “He hasn’t scored more than six league goals in a season since he was at United, which was a decade ago and feels even longer. I’ve quite enjoyed his resurgence, I was sure Arsenal had managed a steal when getting him for so little (relatively), but it has never really come together for him. Hopefully he’ll keep the form up.”
12 min: Welbeck spins Harwood-Bellis with ease and strides into space down the middle. Downes clips him cynically and quite rightly goes into the book.
11 min: Fernandes rolls a pass down the left touchline for Manning, who creams a sensational low cross through the six-yard box. Had Archer not been on his heels, six yards out and level with the near post, he would surely have scored. But the ball sails on through.
9 min: It’s Walker-Peters’ turn to dither, and that allows Rutter to sashay in from the right, reaching the edge of the D before swivelling and firing a low screamer inches wide of the bottom-right corner. Saints are asking for big trouble here.
7 min: Archer wins a corner down the right, but from Southampton’s set piece, Brighton break quickly, Pedro chasing a long ball down the middle. Sugawara looks to have the situation under control, but dithers, allowing Pedro to nick in from behind and steal off with the ball. Pedro lashes wide right with Lumley on walkabout. Saints already look like a defensive disaster waiting to happen.
5 min: Saints overplay out of defence for the first, but one would suggest not last, time tonight. Manning’s misplaced backpass is nearly intercepted by Pedro, but Lumley is off his line quickly to smother.
4 min: Brighton finally get a touch after some pinball on the edge of the Saints box. O’Riley attempts to release Welbeck down the inside-right with a cute backheel, but his captain can’t keep the ball in play. Goal kick.
3 min: Sugawara makes good down the right again, this time slipping a pass down the wing for Archer, whose cutback is cleared by O’Riley. Then a third run by the Saints wing-back, Sugawara fizzing a low ball into the arms of Verbruggen.
1 min: Sugawara steams down the right and feeds Dibling on the overlap, but the latter’s cross is easily blocked and bashed clear. A positive start by Saints, though.
Southampton get the ball rolling. Fans of both teams giving it plenty. A rare old roar.
The teams take to the pitch. Brighton in their blue and white stripes, Southampton in third-choice pink. And it’s a weekend of vivid colours all right, because it’s time for Stonewall’s 2024/25 Rainbow Laces campaign, showing support for the LGBT+ community through rainbow-coloured pitch flags, ball plinths, handshake boards, substitute boards, captain’s armbands … and, of course, bootlaces. A fantastic atmosphere, it’s Sussex by the Sea. We’ll be off in a minute.
Russell Martin’s turn to talk to Sky. “It’s exciting for Joe Lumley … Alex McCarthy played through the pain barrier for us on Sunday, he’d had an injection … I love and admire that about him, because he didn’t have to do that, but he did … the reaction to the game has not been very good, he’s had a very stiff knee this week … so we have to make big decisions … we really trust Joe … it’s an amazing opportunity for him … we have certain principles we want to live by … energy and momentum is really important … when and where we flex and adapt … the feeling and temperature of the game.”
Fabian Hürzeler speaks to Sky Sports. “When you watch our games you see we play in some phases very good, but in some we struggle … the next step is to play consistently for 90 minutes in all phases of the game … today we have another opportunity to prove it … we are in the right direction … the place in the table is confirmation … but the League is so unpredictable … every day is special.”
Pre-match postbag. It’s not exactly teeming over, if we’re being honest, but what we’ve got is a good one.
“I live in Brighton and my daughter is training at Hove Park with the Russell Martin Academy as we speak. On the next pitch is a training session run by them for women in their 40s who never got the chance to play football when they were younger. The academy has also set up a school in the city for children who struggle with conventional education. I hope the fans of his home town give him a decent welcome this evening – he sounds like a genuine good egg” – Tom Atkins
Some more pre-match, indeed pre-weekend, Premier League reading for you.
Both of these clubs featured in today’s edition of Ten Talking Points. Their entries are below, painstakingly curated to save you the trouble of clicking through to the actual article and finding them for yourself. But you should go there anyway, you’ll only be doing yourself out of eight other Points otherwise. Indolence never pays, kids.
After six goals in his first nine league games, Danny Welbeck has quietened down in recent weeks, with João Pedro returning from injury to resume his position as Brighton’s main attacking force. Welbeck’s influence remains, his hold-up play outside the area teeing up two goals against Bournemouth, the captain’s armband on as he leads in the absence of the injured Lewis Dunk. Under Fabian Hürzeler, two years his junior, Welbeck has started every league game this season, which must provide great joy considering the injuries he encountered at Arsenal. A while back, his narrative was of a gifted forward tied up in misfortune, a career that took in trophies and major tournaments but never really advanced past his early-to-mid-20s. Now the central theme is his role as a been-there-done-that battler for Brighton, a key man in their establishment as Premier League mainstays. Taha Hashim
Southampton had only six shots against Liverpool – they have managed more than that in 11 of their 14 previous games in all competitions this season, and at least doubled that number on five occasions. As they continue to play themselves into trouble at the back and remain marooned at the bottom of the table there are not many straws around for them to clutch, but if they could discover a clinical touch it would certainly help. “What was a bit unlucky for them I think is normally they play much better and create much more chances and hardly score,” Arne Slot said. “Today they created few chances and scored two. If they combine these things, so the style of play they had in other games with the effectiveness they had today, then I’m sure they will win some games.” As his team had just demonstrated, if a team can play quite poorly and still score a few goals, they just might be on to something. Simon Burnton
Breaking news … and it’s something which will have some sort of effect, one way or another, on Southampton’s efforts to stay in the Premier League.
Here’s a reminder of how the Premier League table looks heading into the Friday Night Football. Southampton were set a bottom-versus-top clash last Sunday; now they’ve been handed a 20th-versus-fifth-and-potentially-second test. It’s theoretically easier, but not by very much.
Brighton make two changes to their starting XI after the 2-1 win at Bournemouth. Tariq Lamptey returns from injury, with Matt O’Riley stepping up from the bench. Carlos Baleba is suspended after his red card at Dean Court, while Joel Veltman misses out altogether. Lewis Dunk is also back from an injury lay-off, taking a spot on the bench.
Southampton make four changes after their 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool. Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is dropped and replaced by Premier League debutant Joe Lumley. Ryan Fraser also drops to the bench, while Paul Onouachu and Adam Lallana are injured; Cameron Archer, Yukinari Sugawara and Ryan Manning take their places.
The teams
Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen, Lamptey, van Hecke, Igor, Estupinan, O’Riley, Ayari, Rutter, Joao Pedro, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Subs: Steele, Dunk, Enciso, Adingra, Minteh, Wieffer, Ferguson, McConville, Slater.
Southampton: Lumley, Sugawara, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Manning, Dibling, Downes, Fernandes, Armstrong, Archer.
Subs: McCarthy, Aribo, Edwards, Bree, Wood-Gordon, Brereton, Sulemana, Fraser, Amo-Ameyaw.
Referee: Rob Jones
VAR: Jarred Gillett
Preamble
A score draw will send Brighton & Hove Albion into second place in the Premier League tonight, but even a win wouldn’t lift Southampton off the bottom of the table. Given that Brighton, currently fifth in the league, are unbeaten in five against the Saints, and dispatched champions Manchester City in their last fixture at the Amex, you’d have the hosts down as hot favourites tonight. Which they probably are. But Southampton gave a good account of themselves against table-topping Liverpool last weekend, and if they’re able to maintain that level of performance, a second win of the season would be perfectly possible. So while this south-coast derby isn’t exactly poised delicately, it’s not a total home banker either. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
