Southampton are hoping for a late Christmas miracle when they host out-of-form Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
Under the leadership of Ivan Jurić, the Saints lost both games and are still languishing at the bottom of the table. They have picked up just six points during the first half of the campaign and look destined for a return to the Championship, with ten points adrift of safety.
Brentford will look to Saturday’s trip south as the perfect opportunity to end their five-match winless run, with Arsenal were the last to punish the unaligned Bees on New Year’s Day. Thomas Frank’s team are yet to win on the road, however, they have recorded only two draws out of nine away games in the Premier League.
Here 90 minutes a guide to a nervous affair at St Mary’s.
Southampton vs Brentford H2H record (last five matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Southampton |
Brentford |
|---|---|
|
Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton – 29.12.24 |
Brentford 1-3 Arsenal – 01.01.25 |
|
Southampton 0-1 West Ham – 26.12.24 |
Brighton 0-0 Brentford – 27.12.24 |
|
Fulham 0-0 Southampton – 22.12.24 |
Brentford 0-2 Nottingham Forest – 21.12.24 |
|
Southampton 1-2 Liverpool – 18.12.24 |
Newcastle 3-1 Brentford – 18.12.24 |
|
Southampton 0-5 Tottenham – 15.12.24 |
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford – 15.12.24 |
|
Earth |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
Great Britain |
Radio commentary and news on talkSPORT, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Solent and BBC London 94.9 |
|
United States |
Peacock |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 6 Canada |
Southampton they are still without long-term absentees Gavin Bazunu, Juan Larios and Ross Stewart, while Jack Stephens is likely to miss the visit of Brentford with a knock. Will Smallbone is close to returning but could be out for the weekend.
Flynn Downes is being assessed ahead of kick-off after suffering a dead leg, but the big miss for Southampton will be Mateus Fernandes. One of the club’s bright sparks this season, he was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Crystal Palace last time out.
Predicted line-up of Southampton against Brentford (5-2-1-2): Ramsdale; Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Wood, Walker-Peters; Ugochukwu, Aribo; Dibling; Onuachu, Armstrong.
The injuries were persistent and frustrating Brentford this season, but Frank revealed that all those who featured against Arsenal are available on Saturday. This means that returning players Mark Flekken, Sepp van den Berg and Mathias Jensen came through the defeat unscathed.
However, the Bees remain without a number of important first-team players. Fabio Carvalho is out with a groin injury, while Kristoffer Ajer, Rico Henry, Ben Mee, Aaron Hickey and Ethan Pinnock are all absent in defence. Igor Thiago, Gustavo Nunes and Joshua Dasilva are also missing.
Brentford predicted the line-up against Southampton (4-3-1-2): Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard, Jensen; Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa.
Brentford have been in disappointing form of late as injuries have piled up, but they still have plenty of impressive attacking options, most notably Yoane Wiss and Bryan Mbeum. Kevin Schade could also have a significant impact on the outcome, either off the bench or starting.
Southampton have never been out of trouble this season and have been disastrous defensively. Things have improved since the departure of Russell Martin, but they still lack the quality at both ends of the pitch needed to stay in the division.
Brentford could secure their first away win of the season at St Mary’s and heap more misery on the Saints.
Prediction: Southampton 1-3 Brentford
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMORS AND GOSSIP
