Southampton welcome Brentford to St Mary’s Stadium in a rearranged Premier League clash.
Victory would see Southampton climb above Brentford to 11th, whereas Thomas Frank’s Bees can go tenth with a win.
Team News
Yan Valery is suspended for Southampton after being red carded in Saturday’s extra-time win at Swansea in FA Cup.
Mohamed Salisu (suspension) and Che Adams (Coronavirus) are in contention to return but Kyle Walker-Peters (Coronavirus) is a doubt.
Alex McCarthy (thigh), Moussa Djenepo (international duty), Will Smallbone (calf), Valentino Livramento (knee) and Thierry Small (Coronavirus) remain absent.
Brentford could welcome Sergi Canos back from a thigh injury which forced him to miss Saturday’s FA Cup win at Port Vale.
Mathias Jensen (knock) could also be in contention but Rico Henry (hamstring) is unlikely to be risked as Mathias Jorgensen, Charlie Goode (both hamstring), Julian Jeanvier, David Raya (both knee), Frank Onyeka (international duty) and Josh Dasilva (hip) remain ruled out indefinitely.
Stat Attack
- This is Southampton’s first-ever Premier League encounter against Brentford.
- Southampton have won just one of their last five meetings against Brentford in all competitions (W1, D2, L2).
- Brentford are unbeaten in their last four visits to St Mary’s Stadium (D2, W2), winning their last two trips by 2-0 results in December 2010 and September 2020.
- Southampton have scored just once from a free-kick in the Premier League this season, courtesy of James Ward-Prowse against Palace in matchweek 17.
- One of Brentford’s three league goals from the penalty spot this season was scored by Bryan Mbeumo.
Prediction
Having lost just one of their last seven matches in all competitions, Southampton come into this game with plenty of confidence in attack, yet defending seems to be their Achilles heel with no clean sheets in two months and red cards in their last two matches.
Brentford meanwhile endured a difficult festive week but their resilient attacking effort paid off in their last league outing to beat Aston Villa from behind, which certainly motivated them because they went and delivered a clinical display.
This match though should see rotation but should still provide a cracking contest between two teams who haven’t exactly found wins easy to come by in recent weeks, yet Brentford do look the stronger team overall so should have the edge if there’s a winner.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Brentford
Result: Southampton 4-1 Brentford