Brighton vs Southampton: Premier League – live | Premier League

20 minutes: Dibling is blocked again mid-dribble, this time by Mitoma. A more roundabout referee might have warned the Brighton man. Fernandes swings the resulting free kick into the penalty area from the right; For Verbruggen it is an easy task.

18 minutes: Archer’s shot and cross from the right is deflected towards a corner. The set piece leads to some heading, but Brighton eventually manage to clear their lines. Southampton’s best form of defense may be attack.

17 mins: Exciting young winger Dibling advances elegantly down the inside right channel and is cynically stopped by O’Riley. He goes into the book.

16 minutes: Brighton checks patiently… and then Rutter takes a few touches upfield from the right and sends a rising curler over Lumley and past the left post. The ball falls before the danger. Just before the start.

15 minutes: In the first three minutes it was all Southampton. Since then, apart from the Manning crossing, they have barely touched each other. Brighton sets out to do what Brighton does.

14 mins: Luckily, Welbeck can carry on.

13 mins: Welbeck remains lying down and his ankle needs to be examined. Then the physiotherapist comes. “I know the conversations about him are positive, but I still find it hard to say that Welbeck has become ‘calmer’ after three games without a goal,” begins Adam Becker. “He hasn’t scored more than six league goals in a season since he was at United, which was a decade ago and feels even longer. I really enjoyed his resurgence, I was sure Arsenal got a bargain by getting him for (relatively) so little money, but it never really worked out for him. Hopefully he stays in shape.”

12 minutes: Welbeck turns Harwood-Bellis with ease and marches into space in the middle. Downes cuts him off cynically and quite rightly criticizes the book.

11 mins: Fernandes rolls a pass down the left sideline to Manning, who scores a penalty sensational Flat cross through the six-yard box. Had Archer not been on his heels, six meters away and level with the near post, he would surely have scored. But the ball keeps sailing.

9 minutes: Now it’s Walker-Peters’ turn to hesitate, and that allows Rutter to rush in from the right, reach the edge of the D before turning and firing a low screamer inches from the bottom right corner. The saints require great effort here.

7 minutes: Archer wins a corner on the right, but after a set piece from Southampton, Brighton counter quickly, Pedro chasing a long ball into the middle. Sugawara appears to have the situation under control but hesitates, allowing Pedro to snap in from behind and steal away with the ball. Pedro hits Lumley in the walkabout wide right. The Saints already look like a defensive disaster waiting to happen.

5 minutes: The Saints outplay the defense for the first time, but one would suggest not the last time tonight. Manning’s misplaced back pass is almost intercepted by Pedro, but Lumley is quickly off his line and is able to smother him.

4 minutes: After a pinball on the edge of the Saints penalty area, Brighton finally gets a touchdown. O’Riley tries to release Welbeck with a nice backheel down the inside right, but his captain can’t keep the ball in play. Goal kick.

3 minutes: Sugawara does well again on the right, this time sliding a pass down the wing to Archer, whose cut-back is cleared by O’Riley. Then a third Sugawara is led by the Saints full-back and shoots a low ball into the arms of Verbruggen.

1 minute: Sugawara storms down the right side and serves Dibling on the overlap, but his cross is easily blocked and destroyed. A positive start for the Saints.

Southampton gets the ball rolling. The fans of both teams are putting in a lot of effort. A rare old roar.

The teams enter the field. Brighton in its blue and white stripes, Southampton in third choice pink. And it’s a weekend full of bright colors indeed, as it’s time for Stonewall’s 2024/25 Rainbow Laces campaign, showcasing their support for the LGBT+ community through rainbow pitch flags, ball bases, handshake boards, substitution boards, captain’s armbands… and much more Shoelaces, of course. A fantastic atmosphere, it’s Sussex by the Sea. We’re leaving soon.

It’s Russell Martin’s turn to speak to Sky. “It’s exciting for Joe Lumley… Alex McCarthy broke the pain barrier for us on Sunday, he had a shot… I love and admire that about him because he didn’t have to do that but he did it… the reaction.” It wasn’t very good for the game, he had a very stiff knee this week… so we have to make big decisions… we really trust Joe… it’s a great opportunity for him… we have certain principles that we want to live by… energy and momentum really matters…when and where we moving and adjusting… the feel and temperature of the game.”

Fabian Hürzeler speaks to Sky Sports. “If you look at our games you can see that in some phases we play very well, but in some we have problems…The next step is to play consistently for 90 minutes in all phases of the game…Today we have another one Opportunity to prove it…we are heading in the right direction…placement is a confirmation…but the league is so unpredictable…every day is special.”

Mailbag before the game. If we’re honest, it’s not exactly crowded, but what we have is good.

“I live in Brighton and my daughter is currently training in Hove Park at the Russell Martin Academy. On the next pitch there is a training session they are running for women in their 40s who never had the chance to play football when they were young. The academy has also set up a school in the city for children who struggle with conventional education. I hope his hometown fans give him a proper welcome tonight – he sounds like a really good egg” – Tom Atkins

More Premier League reading ahead of the game and even ahead of the weekend for you.

Both clubs were featured in today’s edition of Ten Talking Points. Their entries are listed below and carefully curated to save you the trouble of clicking through the actual article and finding them yourself. But you should still go there, otherwise you’ll only do eight more points. Sloth never pays, children.

After scoring six goals in his first nine league games, Danny Welbeck has calmed down in recent weeks and João Pedro has returned from injury to resume his position as Brighton’s main attacking force. Welbeck’s influence remains, his raid play outside the penalty area ensuring two goals against Bournemouth, while he takes the lead with the captain’s armband 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 be a source of great joy given the injuries he suffered at Arsenal. A while ago it was about a gifted striker who fell into misfortune and whose career brought trophies and major tournaments but never really progressed beyond his early to mid-20s. The central issue now is his role as a tireless fighter for Brighton, a key man in their establishment as a mainstay of the Premier League. Taha Hashim

Southampton had just six shots against Liverpool – they have managed more than that in 11 of their 14 previous games in all competitions this season and have at least doubled that number on five occasions. As they continue to struggle defensively and find themselves stuck at the bottom of the table, there aren’t many straws for them to hold on to, but if they could develop some clinical touch that would certainly help. “What I think was a bit unlucky for them is that they usually play a lot better, create a lot more chances and hardly score any goals,” said Arne Slot. “Today they created few chances and scored two. If they combine these things, 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 shown, a team who plays pretty badly and still scores a few goals, maybe on the right track. Simon Burnton

Latest news… And that will impact Southampton’s efforts to stay in the Premier League in one way or another.

Here’s a reminder of what the Premier League table looks like ahead of Friday Night Football. Last Sunday it was a clash between bottom and top for Southampton. Now they were presented with a test between 20th and fifth and possibly second. In theory it’s easier, but not by much.

Brighton make two changes to their starting XI after their 2-1 win at Bournemouth. Tariq Lamptey returns from injury with Matt O’Riley coming off the bench. Carlos Baleba is suspended after his red card at Dean Court, while Joel Veltman is completely out. Lewis Dunk is also back after an injury break and is on the bench.

Southampton make four changes after their 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool. Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is sacked 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

preamble