Preview: Southampton vs Brighton & Hove Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Heading along the south coast for their penultimate pre-season friendly, Brighton & Hove Albion will meet Southampton on Saturday.

While the Seagulls still have two weeks before starting their latest Premier League campaign, Saints will play their last warm-up for the long Championship season ahead.

Match preview

Barely avoiding the worst-ever season in Premier League history, Southampton endured a disastrous top-flight campaign in 2024-25, ultimately being relegated in last place with just 12 points.

Russell Martin, Simon Rusk and Ivan Juric all tried and failed in the St Mary's hotseat, but former Reims and Lens coach Will Still has since taken charge and will seek a fresh start.

Promotion back to England's elite level is the club's clear aim, though recruitment has been an issue so far this summer.

Having started off pre-season with a 2-1 win over Eastleigh, Still was able to run the rule over his squad in Spain, where Saints drew 1-1 with Castellon and lost 2-1 to La Liga side Espanyol.

Next week, Southampton will get their Championship season under way with a visit from promoted Wrexham, but first they seek a morale-boosting result against Brighton, who thumped them 4-0 at St Mary's in February.

In fact, Brighton have gone seven games without losing to Saturday's hosts, and their last loss in Southampton came way back in 2011.

The Seagulls are now tuning up for their ninth consecutive Premier League season, after ending last term in eighth spot and narrowly missing out on European qualification.

Fabian Hurzeler's first year promised much, and despite the departure of first-team fixtures Joao Pedro and Pervis Estupinian, Brighton have been busy in the transfer market - their most expensive signing so far is teenage forward Charalampos Kostoulas from Olympiacos.

After beating Wycombe Wanderers 6-1 - with Danny Welbeck scoring four - and then Stoke City 3-1 in mid-July, Albion's pre-season continued in the same vein last time out: a behind-closed-doors win over Las Palmas featured goals from Yasin Ayari and Matt O'Riley.

Following this week's quick trip to Southampton, they will play Wolfsburg before the competitive action finally starts: Brighton begin their 2025-26 Premier League season at home to Fulham on August 16.

Southampton pre-season form: W D L

Brighton & Hove Albion pre-season form: W W W

Team News

In addition to Kyle Walker-Peters leaving on a free and Kamaldeen Sulemana joining Ivan Juric at Atalanta BC, Jan Bednarek has just joined Porto and Aaron Ramsdale is expected to sign for Newcastle United, as Southampton's summer exodus continues.

New arrivals Joshua Quarshie and Damion Downs should both feature this weekend. A USA international, the latter was FC Koln's joint-top scorer in the 2.Bundesliga last season and found the net against Espanyol on his Saints debut.

Young forward Jay Robinson has impressed in pre-season, after making his Premier League debut last term, and he will compete with Downs, Cameron Archer and Ben Brereton Diaz for selection.

Brighton, meanwhile, will be without Adam Webster and Julio Enciso, who have been sidelined by knee injuries. Webster is set to miss most of the upcoming campaign after suffering ligament damage during the Seagulls' training camp in Marbella.

Furthermore, Facundo Buonanotte limped off against Las Palmas after playing just 10 minutes, while Bart Verbruggen and Solly March are still unavailable.

Though Evan Ferguson has left on loan to Roma, Fabian Hurzeler has several new signings at his disposal. Stefanos Tzimas and Diego Coppola could be ready to play; Maxim de Cuyper recently replaced Milan-bound Pervis Estupinian and should start at left-back.

Southampton possible starting lineup: Bazunu; Edwards, Stephens, Quarshie; Fraser, Charles, Fernandes, Smallbone, Manning; Archer, Downs

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup: Steele; Wieffer, Coppola, Van Hecke, De Cuyper; Ayari, Hinshelwood; Mitoma, O'Riley, Gruda; Welbeck

We say: Southampton 1-3 Brighton & Hove Albion

While Southampton are a little further along in their pre-season schedule, Brighton's talented squad runs deep - so the Seagulls should record another warm-up win.

Albion are dominant against their south-coast counterparts - winning three of the clubs' last four meetings - and that will continue this weekend.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.