Southampton have been pointed out their significant home advantage that can almost guarantee them an early victory over Portsmouth.
Since the matchday charts were dropped, Southampton fans have been riding on a wave of mixed reactions regarding the fifth gameweek. Certainly, there's no appeal of a first league evening nor the thrill of an inaugural home game but the Portsmouth derby doesn't need any special event to occur, isn't it?
And goes without saying, but that will almost be a first taste of Southern derby for the current Saints roster. Many of them might be rolling back the history pages of this rivalry in order to analyse how much they stand a chance when Pompey's squad comes in town.
Let's be honest, a win and potentially a draw can satisfy the home fans to some extent solely because it's a fresh Southampton unit led by another new Saint. However, any defeat, be it narrow or humiliating can see alarm bells ringing for Still to either respond with a quick Championship turnaround or hand over his Saints resignation.
Portsmouth's horrible home run will delight Saints fans
Luckily, Championship's fan favourite striker Don Goodman feels calm about the latter possibility due to an unnoticed Portsmouth weakness.
Discussing their grim away tally, the Football League World quoted Goodman: "Clearly, their survival was based on home form - 40 points - whereas they only won three away games, and only Plymouth got less points away from home in the Championship last season."
Simply put, Portsmouth securing three points on the road happens once in like ten weeks, which could play to the Saints advantage at St. Mary's.
Moreover, Southampton wrapped up a stress-free victory against Swansea at the same venue, not long ago and they finished five positions higher than Portsmouth. Hence, delivering a world-class performance against the Pompeys shouldn't be an uphill task.