It’s back. After years of separation, the South Coast derby, one of English football’s fiercest and passionate rivalries, is finally reignited. The first league meeting between these two bitter rivals since 2012 promises to be a white-hot atmosphere at a sold-out St. Mary’s Stadium.
Portsmouth will be looking to get their first league victory over Southampton since April 2005. The bragging rights have been in Southampton for a long time, with Portsmouth only finishing above Southampton three times since 1960.
The magnitude of the event is not lost on Will Still, despite only being at Southampton for a matter of months. When speaking on the fixture, Still was clear on what his squad would need to do to earn three points Will Still said: “I think the derby is there to be won and to do whatever it takes to win it. You need to stick your little toe on the line or your backside to defend the goal. “If you’ve got to throw yourself at anything, then that’s what you’ve got to do, and that’s what we’ll have to do. I hope that the players understand that.”
Portsmouth FC manager John Mousinho also grasped the importance of the derby when he said: “The amount of time the two sides have spent apart, in terms of leagues, is far too long for Portsmouth fans to be comfortable with. “This is one, ever since I joined the club, people have been speaking about and looking forward to.”
Saints have failed to hit their stride within their opening four matches, failing to win in the league since the opening day against Wrexham. Boss Still will hope that a win against their fiercest rivals will be just what he needs to kickstart the season.
Pompey fans will be hoping that the return of new signing and academy graduate Conor Chaplin will be enough to see their side to victory. It will be Chaplin’s second debut for the club on Sunday, with the signing seeing much fanfare from the Portsmouth faithful.
For Southampton, the only expected absentee is Brazilian left back Wellington, whilst Portsmouth will be missing Callum Lang, Marlon Pack and possibly Harvey Blair.
Southampton are the betting favourites for Sunday’s game with odds of 4/6 as opposed to Portsmouth’s odds of 18/5. With the Saints dropping out of the Premier League last season and boasting one of the largest wage budgets in the league, expectations are that the side will return to the Premier League.
