Southampton’s seven-year wait for a South Coast Derby will finally come to an end on Tuesday night when they travel to Portsmouth in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
The last time these two rivals met was in the Championship when Pompey snatched a last-minute equaliser at St Mary’s to deny Saints the local bragging rights.
Both sides have gone in opposite directions since then, with Saints cementing themselves as a Premier League club and Pompey languishing in the lower divisions.
There will rarely be a better opportunity for Saints to claim victory at Fratton Park with their opponents struggling just above the League One relegation zone following a 1-0 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers at the weekend.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side also come off the back of a loss after Bournemouth’s 3-1 win at St Mary’s on Friday night.
The Saints manager has revealed that he will try to name his strongest side available for this clash and is fully aware of the importance of this meeting.
Twitter: #SaintsFC boss Ralph Hasenhüttl says he will pick his strongest possible XI for the south coast derby against… https://t.co/hcITwxgPHX (@SouthamptonFC)
He will be without Moussa Djenepo, however, because of a muscular injury, while Nathan Redmond is also a doubt to start.
For one of Hasenhuttl’s most important team selections since his arrival, here’s how we predict the side to line up.
