£25m Brighton star to miss Southampton fixture because of Premier League rule

Brighton will be without their star midfielder Carlos Baleba for tonight’s showdown with struggling Southampton at the Amex Stadium.

Baleba was sent-off at Bournemouth last Saturday as he received two yellow cards from referee Stuart Attwell – the second of which was described as a “false decision” by Albion boss Fabian Hurzeler.

Baleba’s second booking arrived on 59 minutes at the Vitality Stadium for what looked like a fair challenge on Milos Kerkez. The Cameroon international, who joined Brighton for around £25m from Lille in 2023, was quickly dismissed but because it was a second yellow, VAR was not allowed to intervene.

Also, and much to Hurzeler’s annoyance, only straight red cards can be appealed and not second yellows, which means Baleba misses tonight’s clash against Russell Martin’s Saints.

"What should I say to the player?” said Hurzeler in yesterday’s press conference. “He didn't make a mistake with the second yellow card, because it's not a second yellow card.

"On the other side, I also reflect myself – maybe I have to react earlier. We need to protect him. We need to take him out of the game to make sure that he's available for the next game.

"But in the end it was a false decision and false decisions happen in life. So we have to accept it and we have to keep going.”

Hurzeler also felt the Bournemouth player made too much of the challenge, which influenced the referee’s decision

“We have to talk with the players, maybe how to behave in a more clever way,” said the German. “Because in the end, the most clever player was I think Kerkez, who made a big thing out of it and who made this foul or not a foul and makes this action a yellow card.”