Brighton and Southampton may come from similar parts of the world but the south coast outfits have had contrasting starts to the new Premier League season.
The south coast clash between the teams comes with the Seagulls - who narrowly avoided relegation last term - starting the campaign unbeaten in their first two matches.
New manager Graham Potter has masterminded a 3-0 win at Watford and also claimed a useful point at home to an ambitious West Ham United side.
Ralph Hasenhuttl was the Saints' saviour last term as he steered them to safety but a poor opening weekend resulting in a 3-0 loss at Burnley was followed up with defeat by Liverpool to leave them as one of four teams without a point.
Southampton won twice at the AMEX Stadium last term and they will need to do so again to ease fears of another campaign battling relegation.
BRIGHTON: Seagulls' summer gamble on Potter showing early signs of paying off
Many were left up in arms over the bold call at Brighton to sack Chris Hughton almost immediately at the end of last season - despite successfully keeping them in the Premier League.
Replacing him with Graham Potter was a brave call, considering his lack of major top flight experience.
But his reputation has been rising steadily since his unorthodox methods of team bonding helped little known Swedish side Ostersunds into the knockout rounds of the Europa League for the first time ever, where they put up a decent fight before being knocked out by Arsenal.
Putting on team ballets for the local town were part of his success to build team and community spirit. Although those methods did not follow him to Swansea City last term, he did prove in a bigger environment he can adapt his managerial methods.
So far at least, he has steadied the Brighton ship that was rocking even before Hughton's departure but now he has to show it is not a flash in the pan.
That starts with home form. As handy as the point with West Ham was it extends a poor record at the AMEX Stadium where they have won just once in the Premier League this year - and even that was against a doomed Huddersfield Town side.
Potter also has much thinking to do regarding his strike force. Glenn Murray is 35-years-old now and although he has started the season in attack he is yet to find the net.
Potter may feel Murray has much to offer the team as a senior member of the squad, and that can never be easily disregarded.
However, the goals have been coming from elsewhere this season, with Florin Andone and Neal Maupay both having come off the bench to find the net, while another striker Jurgen Locadia is seeking more first-team minutes.
It's been a good start for Brighton but fixing home form and finding a settled starting XI are going to have to be attended to sooner rather than later.
SOUTHAMPTON: It's far too early to panic but the Saints must show improvement in south coast derby
After two seasons spent battling relegation, it was hoped Ralph Hasenhuttl could start dragging Southampton back up the table again having come in mid-season last term to turn around their fortunes.
Instead deja-vu is already lurking around St Mary's following two straight defeats to start the season.
However, things are not quite as bad as they may appear. Granted, the Saints were poor in their 3-0 collapse at Burnley - and teams can have one-off bad games.
Defeat by Liverpool followed, and even given the Reds' handicap of playing midweek in the Super Cup, taking even a point off Jurgen Klopp's side this term will be a bonus for many teams.
But another loss this weekend at a Brighton side who have not won any of their recent five meetings will sow some seeds of doubt.
So are there any positives for Hasenhuttl? For a team that has started the season poorly, surprisingly there are.
From the outside at least it appears he still has a command of the dressing room. The players look comfortable and organised in their positions on the pitch and for the most part they were not opened up too easily by one of the world's most lethal attacking trios in Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
They created chances too, Danny Ings may have grabbed the consolation strike against Liverpool but he also fluffed a sitter which would have given them a dramatic late equaliser.
For now, goals is where Hasenhuttl's problems are. Southampton just don't score enough of them. None of their players have hit double figures over the previous couple of seasons, and last season's top scorer with nine in all competitions was a winger in Nathan Redmond.
Not an easy problem to fix now that the transfer window has closed, but one Hasenhuttl urgently needs to find a solution to if he wants to stay away from another relegation battle.
Predicted line-ups
Brighton's predicted starting XI: Ryan, Duffy, Dunk, Burn, Montoya, March, Stephens, Propper, Gross, Trossard, Andone.
Southampton's predicted starting XI: Gunn, Vestergaard, Yoshida, Bednarek, Bertrand, Valery, Hojbjerg, Romeu, Armstrong, Redmond, Adams
What do the bookies say?
Despite their recent poor record against Southampton, Brighton's good start to the season and home status make them narrow favourites to grab a win, with prices typically around 7/5. Saints' have potential hidden by their two defeats and have a good record at the AMEX so don't discount their 2/1 odds.
Just three of the last 10 goals in matches between these teams have come in the first half, so going with a draw at half-time with Brighton to then go on and win may be tempting at 5/1.
Who's saying what?
Brighton manager Graham Potter on his side's development: 'Im delighted with the players in their application and their quality. The performance levels are really good but we can improve because we are at the start of what we are doing.'
Southampton defender Yann Valery on his side's improved performance at Liverpool: 'You can see since the coach came, we have a strong mentality and we want to win everything. Until the game is done, we keep fighting and work hard. We had to show a response. The coach told us he didn’t want to see the same team against Burnley and that’s what we showed.