Southampton vs Brighton Odds: Expect cards on the South Coast

The Premier League fixtures are showing no signs of letting up as we enter a congested December period. There are five matches being played on Saturday and our attention here will focus on what some have previously, and ridiculously, branded the "South Coast Derby" between Southampton and Brighton.

Things are very tight towards the bottom of the table, with Saints one of a number of teams hovering just above the drop zone. If they aren't careful they could easily be dragged into a relegation scrap, especially considering their last win came almost a month ago in the game that would ultimately cost Dean Smith his position at Aston Villa. There are a number of winnable games for them over the festive period and Hasenhuttl's men will be looking to put together a good run off the back of a frustrating point vs Leicester on Wednesday.

For Brighton, their season so far has been a positive one. Although fans may have notoriously booed manager Graham Potter after last weekend's goalless draw at home to Leeds, the Seagulls find themselves in 7th place without a win in their last eight league matches.

We've previewed the game for you, with a view on highlighting a couple of areas for potential value that could help you land some winning bets for this 3pm kick off.

Leandro Trossard has been firing off the shots this season for Brighton. He ranks top in both this department and for shots on target among his teammates this season, while he also boasts being one of only two BHA mainstays to have featured in all 14 PL games so far this season.

When it comes to this particular bet, the Belgian has hit his mark of 2+ shots in 10 of the 14 league matches in the 2021/22 campaign, including in seven of his last eight.

In the most recent meeting between these two, the forward found himself on the score sheet, providing the winner at St. Mary's in a 2-1 victory back in March just to add an extra bit of spice to this bet's appeal.

When it comes to Jan Bednarek, this inclusion may raise a few eyebrows but there is some method in the madness. The big Polish centre half has managed a shot in each of his last three outings for Southampton, including one which found the target vs Leicester midweek. This stretches to four of the last five when you go a little further back, with Saints' 1-0 win over Villa the only occasion during this time that he failed to pop a shot off.

If you're looking for something at larger odds, this 25/1 shot might be more up your street.

Despite the fact that the two sides are 60 miles apart and you cannot seriously label this clash as a derby, there is a lot to gain should either side win. We're also looking at two teams who play a particular brand of football and share little to no compromise on their philosophies. I expect this meeting to provide quite a few cards, especially considering that Anthony Taylor is in charge. The 43-year-old is currently the referee who has shown the highest number of yellow cards in the Premier League this term with 44 across 11 matches.

While Brighton might be the club with the third-highest tally of cautions in the 2021/22 season, they are much more likely to cause Southampton problems in this area on Saturday. They're a side who are very reliant on wide play, with much of their attacks and build up play stemming from down the flanks.

Which makes it not the least bit surprising that at least one of the opposition full backs have been entered into the referee's book in the six games prior to their draw with West Ham on Wednesday. On two of these occasions, both right back and left back have finished the game with a booking; Leeds and Man City being the two victims here. If you don't quite fancy backing both sides to be booked and were looking for which side has received more attention, the stats say it's an even split. In those four games where only one full back was cautioned, two of those yellows were for a RB (Matty Cash for Aston Villa and Jacob Murphy for Newcastle) while two were for a LB (Andy Robertson for Liverpool and Dimitris Giannoulis for Norwich).

The two Saints defenders in question have received four yellow cards between them this season, with KWP accruing three and Livramento one.