Brighton are in desperate need to pick up a point in their Sunday midday kick off against Southampton.
Graham Potter’s side are teetering on the edge of the relegation zone after no wins in their past five Premier League outings, picking up just two points in that time. If they do not at least draw against Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side they could be in the bottom three at the end of the weekend.
Meanwhile, Southampton will be looking get their season back on course after they were demolished 5-2 by Manchester City Wednesday night. They had just got back to winning ways after they defeated Sheffield United last weekend until Pep Guardiola’s side dealt them a loss.
Despite losing, what the City game highlighted is that Southampton have some consistent players in James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams. Both stars scored against the table leaders and Sheffield and so they will be sure to be in the starting XI on Sunday.
An interesting target for the Saints will be to see if they can keep a clean sheet against Brighton as Southampton’s weakness is in defence, after only recording one clean sheet in their last five league games.
READ MORE: Premier League fixtures and table — all matches by date and kick-off time
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.
When is the match?
The game kicks off at 12pm on Sunday, 14 March at St Mary’s Stadium.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be broadcast on BBC 1 with coverage beginning at 11.45am. It is also available to stream on a desktop or phone on the BBC iPlayer.
What is the team news?
Southampton are without Theo Walcott, Oriol Romeu, Michael Obafemi or Will Smallbone and, while Hassenhuttl has said forward Danny Ings could be back by the end of the month, it’s not likely he’ll play Sunday.
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However, there is a chance Moussa Djenepo will have recovered from his groin injury to star in the fixture.
There is some good news for Brighton as they could welcome back Aaron Connolly from his back problem but Florin Andone and Adam Webster will not be available to play. And Tariq Lamptey and Solomon March are both still out with hamstring and knee injuries respectively.
Confirmed line-ups
SOU - Forster, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Armstrong, Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Minamino, Adams, Tella
BRI - Sanchez, Veltman, White, Dunk, Burn, Lallana, Bissouma, Gross, Trossard, Welbeck, Maupay
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Odds
Southampton - 2/1
Draw - 21/10
Brighton - 6/4
Prediction
The poor form of both sides heading into this match will make for a close encounter. While Brighton’s intent will see some promising chances, Southampton will win in another late victory snatch. Southampton 1-0 Brighton.
