Southampton vs Brighton & Hove Albion

The stakes are high for Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion as the two underperforming Premier League sides face each other in an exciting Boxing Day contest at St Mary’s Stadium.

Southampton’s thoroughly underwhelming Premier League start saw the club part with long-serving manager Ralph Hasenhuttl in November, appointing Nathan Jones as their new chief of staff. After succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on his touchline debut, Jones will hope to turn his fortunes around on his bow in front of the St Mary’s home faithful. Nothing less than victory would serve to settle fans’ nerves, as the ‘Saints’ enter the Christmas period stuck one point adrift of safety after losing three league matches in a row. On a more positive note, they have only lost one of their ten Premier League encounters against Brighton (W3, D6), while they often thrive on Boxing Day, avoiding defeat in nine of their last ten top-flight fixtures on this day (W7, D2).

Meanwhile, Brighton shockingly lost to third-tier Charlton Athletic in midweek League Cup action after a dull 0-0 draw, putting more pressure on underperforming manager Roberto De Zerbi. Since replacing Graham Potter in the ‘Seagulls’ dugout, the Italian tactician has only pulled off two wins in his first eight Premier League games in charge (D2, L4). As such, a coveted European promotion that not long ago looked plausible starts to feel far-fetched, especially after a 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa last time out. Brighton at least toppled Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on their latest Premier League travel to arrest a poor run of four winless away league matches (D1, L3). Also, they sunk Brentford 2-0 on Boxing Day in 2021/22 to curtail an abysmal spell of 11 outings without a league win on this day (D4, L7).