In their first Premier League game since their relegation to the Championship was confirmed, Southampton face a taxing trip across the South coast to meet Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon.
The Saints' fate was sealed in a 2-0 defeat to Fulham last weekend, while Roberto De Zerbi's men were brought crashing back down to earth in a 4-1 midweek humbling against Newcastle United.
For the first 45 minutes of Thursday's game at St James' Park, Brighton were completely unrecognisable from the side that trounced title challengers Arsenal at the Emirates last weekend, as Newcastle pressed the life out of De Zerbi's men and got their rewards through Deniz Undav's own goal and a Dan Burn header in the first half.
Undav went from villain to hero early in the second period to spark a frantic finale, but all of the late goalmouth action came in the Brighton box, as strikes from Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes in the dying embers saw the Magpies come out on top against the Seagulls in that avian contest.
An unusually shot-shy Brighton can practically forget about any nights under the bright lights of the Champions League, but the Seagulls remain comfortably entrenched in sixth place in the table, one point better off than Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa with a game in hand on both clubs.