‘Absolutely hate each other’: Sky Sports pundit and former Southampton man makes south-coast derby prediction as Portsmouth ready for battle
The former Leeds United and Nottingham Forest man knows all about the south-coast derby from his time along the M27. Sky Sports’ EFL expert weighs up the occasion and what unfolds in the Championship at St Mary’s Stadium this Sunday.
Sky Sports pundit David Prutton set the scene for the south-coast derby and branded it one of the most intense in English football.
And the former Southampton man is anticipating a well-balanced high noon showdown on Sunday, as his old side renew acquaintances with Pompey.
The excitement and tension is mounting, as the the two foes prepare to meet in league battle for the first time in 13 years at St Mary’s Stadium.
Despite the differing standings of the two clubs in English football standings over recent years, it’s John Mousinho’s men who sit above Southampton in the formative Championship table for the first time in 5,229 days.
Prutton feels the game is set up nicely, as he delivered his assessment of what makes the occasion so hostile.
Speaking on Sky Sport’s Essential EFL podcast, Prutton said: ‘It's one of the biggest, I think, in EFL terms that we get the chance to cover. I think if you've got a passing resemblance of it, you'd understand it to be a feisty affair.
‘They absolutely hate each other. And that really does bode well for a derby, I think. It's a really harshly fought and hard, kind of attritional at times, set of people that are coming up against each other.
‘The way the teams have started as well means it’s really nicely balanced.
‘I think Will (Still), so many fantastic players at his disposal and John (Mousinho) and his team ethic and how he’s put Pompey together - both are to be well respected.
‘Given the fact that it’s early on, it’s great if you see this as a title decider or relegation six pointer later on. That might be for future discussions, but right now where they find themselves this early-season footing is as balanced as you could wish for going in.
‘Will gets his first taste of it and John of course, seeing what this fixture throws up.
‘It’s just set up so nicely, as I just said they hate each other, it’s just set up as an exhibition of how one set of people can despise another.’
Sky Sports pundit: ‘As feisty as you could possibly wish for’
Prutton has plenty of personal experience of the south-coast derby after spending four years along the M27 and can remember home success, as well as the 2005 4-1 Demolition Derby battering as Southampton fell out of the top flight.
Now the former midfielder is anticipating a lively affair with the spoils shared in the 217th encounter between the two clubs.
He added: ‘I remember we beat them at St Mary’s and that was good and I remember we got absolutely battered at Fratton which wasn’t good, and that is about it.
‘It’s amazing and I’m not saying this with a toe in the Southampton pool from a very long time ago.
‘But when you discuss the major rivalries on this island, we all know the ginormous ones but I think Southampton and Pompey given its location and given its historical significance, and we’re starting to move into political and socio-economic chats we try to stay away from, but why do these two cities not like each other? It’s fascinating and laced with real venom.
‘I’m hoping it’s a spectacle. This one is as feisty as you could possibly wish for - I will go 2-2.’