Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Southampton – prediction, team news, lineups

Brighton & Hove Albion will climb to second place in Premier League table if they claim maximum points in Friday night’s clash with the basement club Southampton at Amex Stadium.

While the Seagulls are looking to win their third game in a row, the Saints are looking to avoid losing three league games in a row.

Match preview

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Two weeks after capitalizing on Manchester City’s recently revealed shortcomings to secure one 2-1 comeback win at Amex, Brighton won by the same score against Bournemouth last weekend – their fourth win in their last six Premier League games, which is as many wins as they achieved in their previous 19 league games (D7 L8).

João Pedro marked his first start since August with a fourth-minute opener, before Kaoru Mitoma swept home a second shortly after the break. The dismissal of Carlos Baleba just before the hour mark threatened to shift the momentum, and Bournemouth’s David Brooks pulled one back in the break before Antoine Semenyo hit the crossbar but the Seagulls held on for all three points.

While head coach Fabian Hurzeler delighted to hear Brighton supporters continue to sing about qualifying for Europe after climbing to fifth in the Premier League table – level on points with Chelsea and Arsenal in third and fourth respectively and just a point behind Man Second-placed City – the German has stressed that it is “important” for his team to “stay humble and stay grounded” at this stage of the campaign.

Brighton will welcome a return to the Amex where they have collected 12 points across six games unbeaten. The Seagulls are one of only three teams, along with Brentford and Liverpool, yet to lose at home in the Premier League this season. However, they have kept just four clean sheets in 15 home games in 2024.

After securing promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 2017, Brighton failed to win any of their opening seven meetings with Southampton, but they have since come out on top in three of their last five, drawing the two others, most recently won 3-1 at Amex in May 2023.

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Southampton supporters would have taken your hand off to lead 2-1 against table-toppers Liverpool heading into the final 25 minutes of last weekend’s meeting at St Mary’s. However, the Saints were unable to march to victory on this occasion.

Actually two goals in the second half from Mohamed Salah turned the contest on its head, with a catastrophic error for the goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and a handball inside the penalty area from the substitute Yukinari Sugawara proved costly for the hosts, who were adjudged one 3-2 home loss and their 10th league defeat of the season.

A frustrated and disappointed Russell Martin lamented all three goals were “so bad” to concede by his side, who remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table and are five points adrift of safety after 12 games. Saints have scored the fewest goals (nine), while only Wolves (28) have conceded more than Martin’s men (27) so far.

Challenging games against Chelsea, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in the EFL Cup are on the horizon for Southampton, but they must first shift their focus to Friday’s contest with a Brighton outfit who have suffered defeat in just one of their last six away meetings (W3 D2).

The Saints have also scored in all 12 Premier League meetings with the Seagulls – the most they have faced an opponent while scoring each time in the division – while they have lost just one of their last seven top-flight matches played on a Friday (W4) D2) so there is reason for the South Coast club to be optimistic about success at the Amex.

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Southampton Premier League form:

Southampton form (all competitions):

Team news

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Brighton will be without the injured duo James Milner (thigh) and Solly March (knee), while Friday’s game will also come too soon Jack Hinshelwood (knee) and Adam Webster (thigh).

Ferdi Kadioglu (toe) and Yankuba Minteh (muscle) are both questionable and will be evaluated prior to kickoff, while Lewis Dunk and Tariq Lamptey have both trained this week after recovering from calf problems and will be included in Hurzeler’s squad.

The absence of suspended midfielder Baleba and uncertainty over Hinshelwood’s fitness could therefore result Matt O’Riley handed his first Premier League start in midfield alongside either Yasin Ayari or Mats Wieffer.

Georginio Rutter was moved off to allow Joao Pedro to play a central role against Bournemouth and he could continue on the right though Simon Adingra will be hoping to force his way into the first XI.

As for Southampton, they still have to do without Aaron Ramsdale (finger), Gavin Bazunu (Achilles), Jan Bednarek (knee), Ross Stewart and William Smallbone (both hamstrings) due to injury, while Martin has confirmed that the Ex-Brighton man Adam Lallana is out for “a couple of weeks” after picking up a hamstring problem in the defeat to Liverpool.

Paul Onuachu was also forced off against Liverpool after picking up a knee injury, but the forward’s problem has been described as “just a niggle” so he could be involved in some capacity at the Amex.

The absence of Lallana could see Joe Aribo handed a start in center midfield next Matheus Fernandeswho scored against Liverpool, while Adam Armstrong – which also caused the web to ripple last weekend – can be joined in the attack by Tyler Dibling and either Cameron Archer or Ben Brereton Diaz.

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Igor, Estupinan; Wieffer, O’Riley; Rutter, Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck

Southampton’s possible starting line-up:
McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Downes, Stephens, Manning; Aribo, Fernandes; Dibling, Archer, Armstrong

We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 Southampton

Southampton may be the Premier League’s lowest scorers after 12 games this season, but they have found the net in each of their last seven visits to Brighton in all competitions, scoring 10 times in total and twice on three occasions, so they will fancy their chances of success in the final third on Friday.

However, keeping the ball out at the other end has been a real problem for an error-prone Saints side, and it’s hard to back a high-flying Seagulls outfit that outscore their opponents en route to securing all three points at home.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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