Southampton’s return to the Premier League after a season in the Championship has been challenging. They are currently at the bottom of the table with just 6 points from 19 matches. Their recent form has been poor, with heavy losses to Chelsea (1-5), Aston Villa (1-0), and Tottenham (0-5). After Ivan Juric took charge, they managed a 0-0 draw against Fulham but then suffered defeats to West Ham (0-1) on Boxing Day and Crystal Palace (2-1) last weekend.
In contrast, Brentford is sitting in 12th place in the league. They faced a 2-1 loss to Chelsea and a 3-1 defeat to Newcastle in the League Cup, followed by their first home loss of the season against Nottingham Forest (0-2). However, they showed resilience by earning a 0-0 draw at Brighton.
Southampton’s squad continues to be plagued by injuries. Goalkeeper Bazunu, midfielder Smallbone, and striker Stewart are all out, while former Lyon player Maxwell Cornet has been excluded from the manager’s plans. Defender Jack Stephens is doubtful for this match after missing the last game.
Offensively, Southampton has struggled, scoring only 11 goals in the Premier League this season, the worst record in the league. No player has scored more than two goals, but there is some hope in 18-year-old Tyler Dibling, who has scored 2 goals and shows promise despite his youth.
Prediction
Southampton has not been entertaining to watch recently, with 16 of their last 19 Premier League matches seeing no more than three goals.
Similarly, six of the last eight games involving Brentford have followed this pattern, so it is unlikely that this match will see more than 3.5 goals.
Prediction: Southampton 0 – 2 Brentford.
