Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has outlined the key tactical elements his team must be wary of in order to beat Southampton this weekend.
The Seagulls travel to St Mary’s on Saturday, aiming to hand their south coast rivals a third consecutive home defeat in as many weeks.
Southampton boss Ivan Juric is fighting to keep his side in the Premier League, with a daunting 10-point gap now separating them from 17th-placed Wolves and safety.
Hurzeler has noted a significant tactical shift since Juric took over, moving away from the approach seen during their 1-1 draw in November under Russell Martin.
“There was a change. In general, they play very man-orientated,” said the German.
“They try to build up by using more and more the target player, Paul Onuachu. They still have individual quality with (Mateus) Fernandes, (Tyler) Dibling, (Kamaldeen) Sulemana.
“They have players in the front line who have the skill to score after every action. On top of that, I see they play a little more direct.
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“They try to press more man-orientated, try to press very high, try to be very aggressive. I think there was a style change, yes.”
In the previous meeting between the two teams, Flynn Downes salvaged a point for Southampton after Kaoru Mitoma had put Brighton ahead.
The Saints also had a goal disallowed in controversial fashion. Despite feeling hard done by, Southampton were forced to settle for a draw, while Brighton climbed to second place at the time.
Now, Hurzeler’s team sits in 10th place in the league.
Reflecting on that match, Hurzeler acknowledged the lessons his side could take into this encounter.
“The players are still the same. They have a lot of right-footed players, for example.
“In their build-up, that is a thing where we have to take care. They play a lot of give-and-go with their centre-backs. These things, they didn’t change.
“Of course you can look back at the game we had at the Amex. You can reflect on it. You can take some lessons from this game.
“Hopefully you can do some small details better than we did in the last game. Depending more on how we work individually, how we win the personal duels.
“That was the main thing where, especially in the second half, they were better than us in the first game.”
Brighton will hope to apply those lessons on Saturday as they aim to continue their push for a strong finish in the Premier League.