Dan gives us his views ahead of our trip along the South Coast to Brighton, do you agree with his views give us your opinions in the section below the article
On Sunday, Saints make the short journey down to the AMEX to take on newly promoted Brighton in their third consecutive televised game. After taking four points from the home games with Newcastle and West Brom, Saints should have the confidence to put in another good shift but so will Brighton.
Fresh from a 3-0 win at West Ham last weekend, Brighton are starting to enjoy life in the Premier League. Sat in 12th with 11 points, Brighton fans will be delighted win the start their side has made since coming up from the Championship and a win for Albion on Sunday will see them leapfrog Saints.
Glenn Murray looks to be back in form after a double against West Ham last Friday and Pascal Gross, Anthony Knockaert and Solly March have all impressed in attack. However, the stand out performers so far for Brighton have been the centre-back pairing of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk. When starting together, the two have been almost unstoppable and will provide Saints with a difficult unit to breakdown.
It can be done though as Saints have impressed a lot more since the international break compared to just before. Some performances have deserved more than they’ve gotten but it seems that Pellegrino has finally gotten his methods through to his squad and it looks like the only way is up now!
After a brace against Newcastle, Gabbiadini needs to start as he’s our most potent threat upfront and most fans will hope that Sofiane Boufal will join the Italian in that starting eleven, fresh from his wondergoal against West Brom.
Boufal has impressed in his last few cameos and most fans now feel that he warrants a starting place, especially with the dip in form of Nathan Redmond since the start of the season. Hopefully he’ll be given a chance against Brighton and a goal or an assist will really do his confidence good.
Prediction: It’ll be unlikely for Saints to dominate the game, even if they do have a higher amount of possession than the hosts due to the tough defensive opposition that they’ll find in Brighton. They’ll see this as a bit of a derby and would love to beat us in the top-flight after our successes over them in the lower leagues. However, I am backing a Saints win but by how much I do not know. I think the game will be tight but I can see Saints leaving with a well-earned 2-1 win!