The Premier League weekend concludes with the Monday Night Football which this week comes from St Mary’s Stadium as Southampton host Brighton and Hove Albion in a clash where both sides will be eager for the three points.
Both clubs survived in the final week of last season and neither will want to go down that route again so there are three valuable points at stake on what should be a competitive evening down in Hampshire.
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Southampton
The Saints head into this contest looking for successive Premier League wins which has been a rarity for them in recent times. They saw off Crystal Palace in their last match and a win here will move them into the top half, which certainly has been lofty heights for them in the last year or so, so there should be no lack of motivation heading into the game.
One concern they will have is with their home form where in truth they have been terrible for far too long and if they are going to make life easier for themselves in terms of remaining in the Premier League they simply have to start picking up points in front of their own fans. This would appear an ideal chance to do just that.
Brighton and Hove Albion
To be fair to Brighton, going into last season you would have expected them to survive late on, if they survived at all so it is certainly no detriment to them that it took that long. Indeed it was actually a significant achievement that they stayed up. Their quest now is to improve on last season and push towards mid-table and fully establish themselves.
Their home form will be key and they are generally good at the Amex but if they want to make life a little easier for themselves then they could do with picking up more points on the road. It is hard to get points away from home in the Premier League but there are places where it is possible and St Mary’s is certainly one of them.
Team News
Southampton boss Mark Hughes has doubts over Charlie Austin and Shane Long heading into the match. They could be on the bench at best but with Danny Ings leading the line, Saints should be ok.
Brighton could be without their star playmaker Pascal Gross but the game might come too soon for Jose Izquierdo and Florin Andone. They are back in training but may not be ready to feature in this one.
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Betting
Southampton beat Brighton in the Carabao Cup last month but how much either side will take from that going into this one remains to be seen. This is a tough one to assess really. Southampton are awful at home and Brighton are terrible away from home so there looks to be plenty of draw potential.
I’m tempted to take over 2.5 goals but only because both sides will look at this as a match they can win and might be a little more expansive in their approach as a result but in truth that would only be a hunch rather than anything significant. It could just as easily be a tightly fought battle with both teams treasuring the points so with no edge on it I’d rather not bet than chance a hunch.
Tips
No Bet
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