Southampton vs Brentford

St. Mary’s Stadium is the venue as Southampton and Brentford go head-to-head in a bottom-half Premier League encounter.

Coming into this rescheduled fixture, Southampton are unbeaten in three Premier League games in a row (W1, D2) while they ousted Championship side Swansea from the FA Cup third round via extra-time at the weekend (3-2). Moreover, since falling to a 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in late September, the ‘Saints’ have gone undefeated in their last six Premier League home games on the trot (W2, D4), with both wins in that period yielding an identical 1-0 scoreline. Indeed, conceding first could prove detrimental to Southampton’s hopes of winning as they’ve failed to pull off a comeback in any of the eight Premier League matches when shipping the opening goal this season (D3, L5). Worryingly, though, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men have suffered four losses in their last six top-flight meetings with newly-promoted sides (W2).

On the other hand, Brentford enjoyed a stellar start to the new calendar year, coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at home, ending a run of three Premier League defeats in the process. The ‘Bees’ have picked up some steam ahead of the kick-off, making light work of lower-league outfit Port Vale in the weekend’s FA Cup showdown (4-1). However, since putting together back-to-back Premier League away victories early in the season, Thomas Frank’s men have alternated between draws and losses across their last five top-flight road trips (D2, L3), conceding 2+ goals on each occasion. But watch out for Brentford’s ferocious finishes, with the league newcomers picking up more Premier League wins thanks to the goals scored inside the last ten minutes of play than any other side in the competition this term (3).

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