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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!
