Russell Martin’s turn to talk to Sky. “It’s exciting for Joe Lumley … Alex McCarthy played through the pain barrier for us on Sunday, he’d had an injection … I love and admire that about him, because he didn’t have to do that, but he did … the reaction to the game has not been very good, he’s had a very stiff knee this week … so we have to make big decisions … we really trust Joe … it’s an amazing opportunity for him … we have certain principles we want to live by … energy and momentum is really important … when and where we flex and adapt … the feeling and temperature of the game.”

Fabian Hürzeler speaks to Sky Sports. “When you watch our games you see we play in some phases very good, but in some we struggle … the next step is to play consistently for 90 minutes in all phases of the game … today we have another opportunity to prove it … we are in the right direction … the place in the table is confirmation … but the League is so unpredictable … every day is special.”

Pre-match postbag. It’s not exactly teeming over, if we’re being honest, but what we’ve got is a good one.

“I live in Brighton and my daughter is training at Hove Park with the Russell Martin Academy as we speak. On the next pitch is a training session run by them for women in their 40s who never got the chance to play football when they were younger. The academy has also set up a school in the city for children who struggle with conventional education. I hope the fans of his home town give him a decent welcome this evening - he sounds like a genuine good egg” – Tom Atkins

Some more pre-match, indeed pre-weekend, Premier League reading for you.

Both of these clubs featured in today’s edition of Ten Talking Points. Their entries are below, painstakingly curated to save you the trouble of clicking through to the actual article and finding them for yourself. But you should go there anyway, you’ll only be doing yourself out of eight other Points otherwise. Indolence never pays, kids.

After six goals in his first nine league games, Danny Welbeck has quietened down in recent weeks, with João Pedro returning from injury to resume his position as Brighton’s main attacking force. Welbeck’s influence remains, his hold-up play outside the area teeing up two goals against Bournemouth, the captain’s armband on as he leads in the absence of the injured Lewis Dunk. Under Fabian Hürzeler, two years his junior, Welbeck has started every league game this season, which must provide great joy considering the injuries he encountered at Arsenal. A while back, his narrative was of a gifted forward tied up in misfortune, a career that took in trophies and major tournaments but never really advanced past his early-to-mid-20s. Now the central theme is his role as a been-there-done-that battler for Brighton, a key man in their establishment as Premier League mainstays. Taha Hashim

Southampton had only six shots against Liverpool – they have managed more than that in 11 of their 14 previous games in all competitions this season, and at least doubled that number on five occasions. As they continue to play themselves into trouble at the back and remain marooned at the bottom of the table there are not many straws around for them to clutch, but if they could discover a clinical touch it would certainly help. “What was a bit unlucky for them I think is normally they play much better and create much more chances and hardly score,” Arne Slot said. “Today they created few chances and scored two. If they combine these things, so the style of play they had in other games with the effectiveness they had today, then I’m sure they will win some games.” As his team had just demonstrated, if a team can play quite poorly and still score a few goals, they just might be on to something. Simon Burnton

Breaking news … and it’s something which will have some sort of effect, one way or another, on Southampton’s efforts to stay in the Premier League.

Here’s a reminder of how the Premier League table looks heading into the Friday Night Football. Southampton were set a bottom-versus-top clash last Sunday; now they’ve been handed a 20th-versus-fifth-and-potentially-second test. It’s theoretically easier, but not by very much.

Brighton make two changes to their starting XI after the 2-1 win at Bournemouth. Tariq Lamptey returns from injury, with Matt O’Riley stepping up from the bench. Carlos Baleba is suspended after his red card at Dean Court, while Joel Veltman misses out altogether. Lewis Dunk is also back from an injury lay-off, taking a spot on the bench.

Southampton make four changes after their 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool. Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is dropped and replaced by Premier League debutant Joe Lumley. Ryan Fraser also drops to the bench, while Paul Onouachu and Adam Lallana are injured; Cameron Archer, Yukinari Sugawara and Ryan Manning take their places.

The teams

Preamble