Southampton

Marissa Thomas
BBC Sport journalist

Southampton boss Ivan Juric has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brighton (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On team news: "Jack [Stephens] is OK, [Adam] Lallana still not. [Taylor] Harwood-Bellis is still not and [Flynn] Downes is in training with us."

• The Saints boss elaborated on Downes being available for first-team selection after being left out of the past three squads: "We had a really good chat and I think he understands the mistakes and everything. Even now, after everything, I think what I thought when I first came here, that he is a very good player and a good guy who made a mistake. But he's OK, he's fit and training very well."

• On comparisons between Brighton and his Southampton side: "It's a perfect way of operating. When you are in the Premier League and you have more years, you have a greater opportunity to create great players - this is the big difference to us and [fellow promoted sides] Ipswich and Leicester."

• He added: "They [Brighton] are eight years there [in the Premier League]. Every year they can buy new players, sell well and then buy more new players to create something important in the team. Even if they change their managers - from [Graham] Potter to [Roberto] De Zerbi and then now, they are still good."

• On competing with Brighton: "Bournemouth isn't like Brighton but it is similar in some moments of the game. The team were fighting and when we have intensity we can compete with Brighton, Bournemouth, anybody."

• When asked if having the backing of the crowd would be important against Brighton, Juric said: "At this moment, they [the fans] are perfect, more than perfect if you consider that at this moment we are bottom of the table. All that has happened and they are [still] really great."

• On the reaction of supporters during their 3-1 home defeat by Bournemouth in their most recent match: "When we started to play good in the second half, the stadium was incredible. They [the fans] are pushing us. When we scored the goal it was really nice to be the coach of the team with the crowd like this."

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Let us know here

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Southampton "don't need Tyler Dibling in the Championship", says BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore.

Speaking on the BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast, looking ahead to the Saints' match against Brighton on Saturday, Blackmore said: "[Dibling] turned 19 this week and he is a really good talent. I spoke to him properly for the first time last week and he has a lovely, simple,19-year-old's way of looking at the game.

"I asked him: 'How have you bulked up and got more powerful?' And he said: 'Well, I haven't really. I have just played my football and I just do what I always do. I have always been able to hold defenders off.' He just sees is in a really lovely, simple and clear way.

"I don't think the club can hold on to him when they are relegated. Probably the best thing for the club is he is their most saleable asset. If you are going to save money from relegation, then honestly, you don't need Tyler Dibling in the Championship to go back up, but would you need him in the Premier League.

"I don't think it would be easy for him [in the Premier League] because he is so young, but if you can get £60m for him then you can probably keep most of the other players without worrying about the money.

"It would make sense to me to sell him. It would be gutting for the fans, but it is business. If they have to sell him but they keep Matheus Fernandes, then I would go with that all day long."

Listen to the full discussion on BBC Sounds

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Having been unbeaten in their first seven Premier League games against Brighton (W3 D4), Southampton are now winless in their last six against the Seagulls (D3 L3).

Brighton are unbeaten in all six of their Premier League away games against Southampton (W2 D4) – they've only visited West Ham (8) more without ever losing in the competition, while Saints have only hosted Nottingham Forest (7) more often without success.

Ray Hunt
Fan writer

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A 20th defeat in 25 league matches. A 10th defeat in 12 at St Mary's. We remain 10 points from safety and the latest loss - a 3-1 humbling at home to Bournemouth - meant it was the first time they have completed the double over us. More unwanted records are falling.

With relegation almost a certainty, the question is: what do we want to see for the remainder of the season? Is it merely to chase down Derby County's 11-point total, to salvage some pride, or maybe to find some minutes for frozen-out Armel Bella-Kotchap?

It is all of the above. But a more pressing concern is team selection. It is way past the time for Ivan Juric to ditch the back three, which has not been working. The midfield is full of holes that need to plugged. He appears just as inflexible as predecessor Russell Martin and seems unable to learn from previous mistakes.

Martin stuck to the same approach, no matter the opponent, and Juric continues to select players out of position to fit his style. Square pegs, round holes - though it is worth noting that the last time we played a flat back four, we were dismantled 5-0 at home by Tottenham.

The Bella-Kotchap situation continues to confuse. He was named among the substitutes for the fifth consecutive game.

He has played 27 minutes all season - at Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup - but still continues to be unused in a set-up missing key centre-backs Jack Stephens and Taylor Harwood-Bellis. Instead, Juric opts for Joe Aribo to fill that void.

We have Flynn Downes still sulking, Adam Armstrong seeking approval elsewhere, loaned-out players thriving, players being used out of position and players who deserve time sitting on the bench.

This situation is a mess - and with Brighton, Chelsea and Liverpool up next, where is the next point coming from?

Find more from Ray Hunt at the In that Number podcast, external

Chris Wise
Final Score reporter

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There must be more than a few envious eyes at Southampton right now glancing along the coast at Bournemouth. After all, it was less than a decade ago when Saints were competing in European football. They're now hurtling back towards the Championship, and Bournemouth are quietly preparing themselves for the continent.

The Cherries' victory at St Mary's at the weekend was the first time they'd completed a league double over Southampton, and also provided us with the final piece of evidence that there's been a changing of the guard.

Bournemouth were just a level above Saints for large portions of the game. If they'd shown some ruthlessness, the margin of victory could have been far greater.

No-one at Bournemouth is going to openly say they're genuine European contenders, but they are. They've won 10 of their last 15 games in all competitions, are freely scoring on their travels, and are just a brilliantly coached side.

Bournemouth's consistency is everything Southampton crave right now.

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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Southampton and Bournemouth.

Here are some of your comments:

Southampton fans:

Freddie: It felt as if we've resolutely condemned ourselves to the Championship already. A distinct lack of quality, aside from Mateus Fernandes, makes me concerned we'll be in a League One relegation fight next season. Onwards and upwards!

Glenn: Ivan Juric used the Nathan Jones, Ruben Selles, Russell Martin tombola number picker rather than player picker. Did not play our best players in best positions! Defending abysmal and the match went pretty much as us Saints supporters predicted! The players must be pretty much devastated and depressed as I know I and many Saints fans are! Sports Republic is responsible with dire recruitment of managers and players!

James: In short, not clinical enough. I will say that the chances of Southampton staying up are slim at best. If Juric had been the manager from the start of the season, then he would've been able to form his own identity in regards to the team, then in terms of the season it might've been a different story and they could've had more of a chance of beating the drop.

Ryan: Another toothless performance. Professional display from Bournemouth but we didn't really give them too many problems to think about. Allowing the opposition to go 2-0 up early on never gives us the best platform to compete and our poor starts are just one of the things that need to be eradicated if we're to seriously bounce back next year at the first time of asking.

Bournemouth fans:

Mark: Wow, the Cherries dream of Europe continues. The spirit, the never say die attitude continues. The atmosphere was brilliant from the away fans - we all have the belief we will do this. It's no longer a dream, it's becoming a reality. Bring on European nights at the Vitality! Well done, Andoni, Bill and everyone connected to AFCB! What a time to be a Cherry.

Matt: A convincing victory over local rivals, and a welcome first double. Not too shabby for a side lacking any recognised striker. Players coming back from injury can only reinforce our European football credentials.

Simon: Brilliant to do the double over Saints for first time in our club's history. Christie was magnificent. It's great he scored one and got an assist too! Christie's shooting more recently but has been very unlucky with hitting the post. Cherries were clinical up top and did well to get a third when a short period of sloppy play in second half let an otherwise poor Saints back into the game. Important three points to keep the European football possibility alive!

Ben: The first half was all Bournemouth and we should have made even more of the chances we had. For 20 minutes in the second we seemed to take our foot off a bit and suddenly it was Southampton winning the second balls. When they scored it was a little nervy. But our third was well deserved and killed the game off - impact off the bench yet again. Being a Cherries fan at the moment is a bit of a dream.

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Former Southampton player Jo Tessem believes the academy is not producing talent of the same quality as it used to, falling behind Bournemouth and Brighton.

Speaking on BBC Radio Solent's Goin' Home With Adam And Jo podcast, Tessem said: "Southampton used to have one of the best academies in terms of producing talent - I'm not seeing that any more.

"Luke Shaw is still the last one who came out of it. [Tyler] Dibling is the next one - but it's 10 years later.

"We used to have it on a yearly basis, a new talent coming through from the academy.

"Sports Republic has also learned a lesson about what the Premier League is about. You have got to invest."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from Friday's game between Brighton and Chelsea.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Man City 4-0 Newcastle

• Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton

The latest episode of BBC Radio Solent's Goin' Home With Adam And Jo podcast has landed.

Listen to Adam Blackmore and Jo Tessem discuss the increasing gap between Southampton and Bournemouth as well as the need for fundamental changes at the Saints after suffering a 3-1 defeat at home to the Cherries.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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Southampton manager Ivan Juric has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day after today's defeat: "They were much better first half, second half we did better. but it wasn't enough to take a point.

"The first goal we were two-v-one in the area and then we play and create and I think in the first half they were much better than us.

"When you are bottom of the table you have a lot of problems and this is one of them. Today they gave everything but it was not enough.

"We have good spirit and we scored the goal and created opportunities and played like I want my team to play, with lots of aggression and winning the duels and flair but it wasn't enough.

"It is not just mentality. It is everything. We are missing a little bit of everything. We have to believe and try to play more like the second half and we will see."

Joe Nelson
BBC Sport journalist

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When Bournemouth beat Southampton 3-1 at St Mary's on Saturday, the gulf in quality between the two sides was clear.

Dango Ouattara and Ryan Christie struck in the first half and despite Kamaldeen Sulemana getting one back late on, the Saints were hit by a Marcus Tavernier sucker-punch.

The Cherries are dreaming of European football. Southampton are staring at the Premier League trap door.

Put simply, Bournemouth were just more clinical on the day.

Ouattara's glancing header gave Aaron Ramsdale no chance and Christie's shot had the former Cherries keeper well beaten. Tavernier's late effort similarly gave Ramsdale no chance.

Sulemana's goal was a tidy finish but such shows of quality were few and far between for a Southampton side who lack confidence.

Paul Onuachu did well to assist Sulemana but other than that, he struggled to hold the ball up against Bournemouth's defenders.

Second-half substitute Cameron Archer offered more penetration in the latter stages but even then, when he had got beyond the Cherries backline, he was denied at close range by Kepa.

Southampton's lack of cutting edge was juxtaposed by the devastating finishing on display by their south coast counterparts on Saturday afternoon.

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After 25 games of a top-flight season, only Sheffield United in 1975-76 (eight - 3 points/win) have accrued fewer points than Southampton's nine in 2024-25.

Bournemouth are unbeaten in each of their past seven away Premier League games (W5 D2), with their 22 points won on the road in 2024-25 their joint-most in a top-flight season (also 22 in 2015-16).

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Southampton's performance

What did you make of Bournemouth's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Seven matches make up Saturday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Leicester City v Arsenal (12:30)

• Aston Villa v Ipswich Town

• Fulham v Nottingham Forest

• Man City v Newcastle - BBC Radio 5 Live commentary

• Southampton v Bournemouth

• West Ham v Brentford

• Crystal Palace v Everton (17:30) - BBC Radio 5 Live commentary

All kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here.

I'd be shocked if Bournemouth don't win this.

Even in the FA Cup against Burnley, Southampton could not give their home fans anything to cheer about. Dear me, what a depressing season this has been for them.

Saints would be better off finishing the campaign now - just packing up, shutting the ground down and looking forward to next season, or looking ahead to it, anyway - why would you be looking forward to it after such a dismal few months?

Bournemouth are well organised, have a good balance to their team and Justin Kluivert is on fire. They have quite a few injuries but you don't hear them complain do you? They just get on with it.

Sutton's prediction: 1-3

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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How does young Southampton star Tyler Dibling react to the transfer speculation surrounding him?

"I don't really change. I don't see how people change from that. I don't really see any difference. I'm just being me," the 18-year-old told BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore.

Listen to the full interview

Millie Sian
BBC Sport journalist

Southampton boss Ivan Juric has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Bournemouth (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Taylor Harwood-Bellis is unavailable for this weekend. Adam Lallana has "a little problem with his hamstring" so he will be assessed again tomorrow. Jack Stephens is still out but he will start first team training again next week.

• Flynn Downes will not be involved this weekend because the pair haven't resolved their problem.

• On the Downes situation, Juric said: "I agree that everything is resolvable, but it has to be that he really wants to resolve it. Of course I want to resolve it."

• Juric says this game doesn't have more significance for Premier League survival after the win over Ipswich Town because "every game is a must-win" for the Saints at the moment.

• Juric added: "I feel like we are more full of courage that we can win games. We might suffer during the match, but we can win the games. It has been a very good week and I think we are ready."

• He saw "lots of chances, domination and good things" in the FA Cup defeat to Championship side Burnley, adding: "It's not good to lose any game but I'm feeling that we are getting better and we are improving."

• Bournemouth will bring "lots of pressure and intensity" to St Mary's Stadium, with Juric warning: "They like playing forward and they are perfect at that. When they steal the ball and play it forward immediately, they create lots of chances."

• Juric said he likes watching Bournemouth games as they are "very interesting" and added: "What I feel about Bournemouth is that the boss wants to play his kind of football and the club buys him those kinds of players. It's like every player is in the right spot. If they need two specific midfielders, they will find them - such as Justin Kluivert. I feel the players are connected, they are all working in the same way and doing well."

• On Aaron Ramsdale's comment that Premier League survival looks impossible but all the players believe it is still possible, he said: "I think the players are really believing. They are feeling that they can win the matches. We have to be focused and work hard on our things that can be good."

• Kamaldeen Sulemana has spoken out about feeling misunderstood at the club but Juric confirmed he has "never had a problem" with the forward: "I've had experiences with lots of different players - French, African and ex-Yugoslavian. They are all different and you have to find a way to work with them. He is training hard. He is a funny guy, always laughing. For me, he is professionally perfect."

• He praised 20-year-old Mateus Fernandes for being "extremely professional" when regularly called on this season: "He is like living for football and thinking about football. When you are working with him and showing him videos, he is wanting to improve himself. He is a really motivated guy. He wants success so he is working really hard."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

The Premier League's bottom two Southampton and Ipswich using the highest number of players this season - 33 and 31 respectively - does not come as a surprise.

Both are newly-promoted sides with relatively limited budgets who began the campaign with managers that had never previously led teams in the division.

Saints suffered an identity crisis under Russell Martin who refused to his possession-based approach for the top flight before replacing him with Ivan Juric who is still attempting to find his favoured starting XI.

Ipswich have fought admirably in their first Premier League season but manager Kieran McKenna is learning on the job. Back in October, BBC Radio Suffolk's Graeme McLoughlin wrote he was "not sure McKenna knows his best line-up yet" and, although things have settled, the Town boss is still adapting from game to game.

When contrasted with high-flying Nottingham Forest - who have used 23 players, the lowest in the division- it is clear the impact a settled, consistent starting XI can make.

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Following their 3-1 win at Vitality Stadium in September, Bournemouth are looking to complete the league double over Southampton for the first time, in what is the 15th different campaign in which they have met.

Meanwhile, the Cherries have won possession in the final third more often than any other Premier League side this season (146), while Saints have lost the ball more often in their defensive third than any other team (154).

Is there something you want to ask about a Premier League club?

Former Premier League defender Nedum Onuoha is ready to answer your burning questions and give his thoughts on some of the biggest talking points for a special Q&A.

Submit your questions here and come back on Thursday for his answers