Relegation strugglers Southampton host Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, and we’ve got the latest team news and predicted lineups, as well as a prediction alongside our preview.
Southampton vs Brentford Preview
On the hunt for their first win since early November, bottom of the table relegation strugglers Southampton welcome out of form Brentford to St. Mary’s in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints parted ways with first-team manager Russell Martin 10 days shy of Christmas Day, replacing him with Croatian manager Ivan Juric, whose first two games in charge of the south coast club have ended in defeats.
His maiden tie as Southampton boss ended in a 1-0 defeat to West Ham, followed by a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace last time out despite initially taking an early lead through impressive youngster Tyler Dibling.
Currently at the bottom of the table, having only recorded one league victory this term, the Saints are now 10 points adrift of safety at the midway point of the campaign, making retaining their top-flight status look an almost impossible task.
Brentford, meanwhile, are in 12th place in the table on 24 points, and they head into the clash off the back of a poor run of results. The Bees are winless in each of their last five across all competitions, losing four and drawing one.
Last time out, Thomas Frank’s side were well beaten 3-1 by high-flying Arsenal, which followed a goalless stalemate with Brighton in the game prior, with defeats to Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Chelsea preceding those.
Saturday’s meeting will be the second time that the pair have met this season. The reverse fixture, played at the Gtech Community Stadium in late August, ended 3-1 in favour of Brentford through a Yoane Wissa goal and a Bryan Mbeumo brace.
Southampton Team News
Long-term absentee Gavin Bazunu (Achilles) remains out until at least February, while Ross Stewart (calf), Jack Stephens (knock), Will Smallbone (thigh) and Mateus Fernandes (suspended) are also unavailable for Brentford’s visit.
Flynn Downes (thigh) is also a major doubt, with the 25-year-old set to undergo a late fitness test ahead of the clash.
Brentford Team News
The Bees, meanwhile, are without countless first-team stars, with all of Josh Dasilva (knee), Ethan Pinnock (thigh), Kristoffer Ajer (ankle), Ben Mee (muscular), Fabio Carvalho (groin), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Rico Henry (knee), Igor Thiago (knee) and Gustavo Nunes (lower back) ruled out of the clash.
Southampton vs Brentford Predicted Lineups
Southampton Predicted Lineup:
Ramsdale; Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Wood; Bree, Aribo, Ugochukwu, Walker-Peters; Dibling, Armstrong; Onuachu
Brentford Predicted Lineup:
Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard, Yarmoliuk; Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa
Southampton vs Brentford Prediction
Despite Southampton’s dreadful record this term, the UK’s best football betting sites only see Brentford as narrow favourites to prevail on the south coast on Saturday, but that comes with good reason.
The Bees are one of just two teams remaining in the division yet to record a league victory away from home this season, the other being Southampton, having lost seven and drawn two of their nine away fixtures.
For this reason, as well as their poor form as of late and the Saints’ poor form all season, we at SportsCasting find this one an incredibly tough one to call, and so, are backing a score draw to be played out at St. Mary’s.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Brentford
