Southampton return to Premier League action once more this weekend as they make the short trip along the south coast to face Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex.
The Saints come into the clash on the back of a much-needed win which was picked up against West Brom last weekend thanks to a brilliant solo effort from Sofiane Boufal.
Brighton, on the other hand, will be looking to continue their great form after picking up a brilliant 3-0 win away at West Ham at the London stadium last Friday night. This result took them to 12th place in the table after the weekend’s results.
Saturday’s opponents have a number of impressive players, but there are some that do stand out.
In my opinion, the player who Saints should be most worried about ahead of the south coast derby is Pascal Gross, with the German having had an impressive start to life in the Premier League.
Signed from FC Ingolstadt 04 in the summer, the attacker has continued to put in a number of top quality performances, which included an assist in that win over the Hammers.
Gross has played himself into being a vital player for the Seagulls after picking up two goals and four assists so far. This has helped them to emerge as one of the surprise packages of the season at this early stage.
The impressive creator didn’t have an impressive goalscoring record in the Germany but has been much sharper in front of goal this season. He looks to be incredibly creative in the matches that he has appeared in so far.
The Saints will really need to be on top of their game if they are to keep the Brighton frontline quiet and in particular Gross, who has been superb so far following his move during the summer transfer window.
