Southampton and Portsmouth fans issued police warning ahead of South Coast derby showdown

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Southampton and Portsmouth will meet in a league fixture for the first time since 2012 this weekend.

The Saints and Pompey are bitter rivals and given the length of time since their last league meeting, bragging rights will be on the line.

Will Still’s side are the favourites with the home advantage while John Mousinho will hope to beat Southampton for the first time.

St Mary’s Stadium is expected to play host to a fiery atmosphere, and ahead of the game, a police warning has been issued.

• READ MORE: Southampton man must impress Will Still this Championship season as he faces last chance at Saints

Police issue statement before Southampton vs Portsmouth

In order to keep any issues at bay, travel arrangements have been put in place for all Portsmouth fans visiting; they must travel to and from the ground on organised coaches.

As per the BBC, Assistant Chief Constable Tony Rowlinson released a statement saying: “There will be a minority, I have no doubt, who will think that their motivation is to come along and cause trouble.

“My plea to those people is don’t come and cause trouble – don’t spoil it for the majority that want to have a good time.

“We want both sets of supporters to come and have a great time and to enjoy it, but if that is going to tip into unlawful acts, we have got policing there ready to deal with that.”

What happened in the last meeting between Southampton vs Portsmouth?

It may have been 13 years since the last league meeting, but the two have met in cup competitions during that time.

Their last fixture was during a Carabao Cup clash at Fratton Park in September 2019, where the Saints ran out as 4-0 winners.

The two were worlds apart back then with Southampton competing in the Premier League and Pompey down in League One.

Who will come out on top this time?