Southampton will be hoping for a delayed Christmas miracle when they take on out-of-form Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints have lost both games under Ivan Juric’s leadership and are still at the bottom of the table. They picked up just six points in the first half of the season and look set to return to the Championship, with ten points still separating them from safety.
Brentford will view Saturday’s trip south as the perfect opportunity to end their five-game winless run, with Arsenal set to punish the unhinged Bees on New Year’s Day. However, Thomas Frank’s side are yet to win away from home and have only drawn two in nine Premier League games.
Here is 90 minutes Guide to Having a Nervous Affair in St. Mary’s.
Southampton vs Brentford H2H record (last five games)
Current form (all competitions)
Southampton | Brentford |
|---|---|
Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton – 12/29/24 | Brentford 1-3 Arsenal – 01/01/25 |
Southampton 0-1 West Ham – 12/26/24 | Brighton 0-0 Brentford – 12/27/24 |
Fulham 0-0 Southampton – 12/22/24 | Brentford 0-2 Nottingham Forest – 21/12/24 |
Southampton 1-2 Liverpool – 12/18/24 | Newcastle 3-1 Brentford – 12/18/24 |
Southampton 0-5 Tottenham – 12/15/24 | Chelsea 2-1 Brentford – 12/15/24 |
country | TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
United Kingdom | Radio commentary and updates on The Pitch Prospect, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Solent and BBC London 94.9 |
United States | peacock |
Canada | fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 6 Canada |
Southampton are still without long-term absentees Gavin Bazunu, Juan Larios and Ross Stewart, while Jack Stephens is likely to hurt the game against Brentford. Will Smallbone is close to returning but could miss the weekend.
Flynn Downes will be assessed before kick-off after suffering a leg injury, but the big miss for Southampton will be Mateus Fernandes. He has been one of the club’s bright spots this season and is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last game against Crystal Palace.
Predicted line-up for Southampton vs Brentford (5-2-1-2): Ramsdale; Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Wood, Walker-Peters; Ugochukwu, Aribo; Dibling; Onuachu, Armstrong.
Injuries have been persistent and frustrating for Brentford this season, but Frank has revealed that everyone who featured against Arsenal will be available on Saturday. This means that the returnees Mark Flekken, Sepp van den Berg and Mathias Jensen all survived the defeat unscathed.
However, the Bees remain without a number of key 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 missing in defence. Igor Thiago, Gustavo Nunes and Joshua Dasilva are also missing.
Predicted line-up for Brentford vs Southampton (4-3-1-2): spots; Roerslev, Collins, Van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard, Jensen; Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa.
Brentford have been in disappointing form of late as injuries mount, but they still have a wealth of impressive attacking options, most notably Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo. Kevin Schade could also have a significant impact on the result, be it on the bench or in the starting line-up.
Southampton have never left the crisis behind them this season and have been chaotic defensively. Things have improved since Russell Martin’s departure, but they still lack the quality at both ends of the pitch needed to stay in the division.
Brentford could well secure a first away win of the season at St Mary’s to cause the Saints even more woe.