Crystal Palace and Brighton have reignited their M23 rivalry with conflicting views on playing Premier League matches at neutral venues.
Albion chief executive Paul Barber has claimed removing home advantage would be “unfair” with his 15th-placed Seagulls who had five of their remaining nine fixtures scheduled at the Amex Stadium.
These home games included challenging ties against Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Palace were due to play five of their remaining matches away from Selhurst Park, including trips to Liverpool's Anfield, Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux and Leicester City's King Power.
And Eagles chairman Steve Parish – the other Premier League boss who has had the courage to speak up - called the plan to play at neutral venues the “least worst option”.
The Palace co-owner said: “I do fear that people are not looking far enough down the road and seeing the consequences of us not playing.
"The best way for us to resolve that is to resolve it competitively, it is the least worst option.
“Next season, in all likelihood, we will start with neutral grounds and I am sure we will want to get back into our own grounds as soon as possible. There will be a distortion of the competition that way round.
“All the pitches are pretty much the same size, an empty stadium is an empty stadium. I think it will be a level playing field from when we start.”
Palace are 10 points clear of their M23 derby rivals and far more certain of Premier League survival than the Seagulls, who are only two points clear of the relegation zone.
As well as claiming it would be unfair, Barber believes the Premier League's integrity will be called into question by playing matches at neutral venues.
"Clearly, we must all be prepared to accept some compromises, and we fully appreciate why playing behind closed doors is very likely to be a necessary compromise to play our remaining games while continuing to fully support the government's efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus," Barber told Brighton's website.
"But at this critical point in the season playing matches in neutral venues has, in our view, potential to have a material effect on the integrity of the competition."
