Kick-off: 1500, 04/02/2023
Stadium: Gtech Community Stadium
Southampton will hope to make up for their Carabao Cup disappointment by easing their relegation fears when they go to Brentford on Saturday.
Saints missed out on a trip to Wembley after losing 3-1 on aggregate to Newcastle and have played three cup ties since they were last in Premier League action.
Their opponents have had two weeks to relax and prepare for this fixture and can make that count so the hosts to be leading at both half-time and full-time at 37/20 is our opening Brentford vs Southampton prediction.
Brentford Odds
Brentford’s third-round FA Cup exit meant they were not in action last weekend so they should be raring to go here.
The rest should have done them good and the Bees will now hope to resume where they left off and extend an eight-match unbeaten run.
They had to settle for a goalless draw at Leeds last time out but had won their three previous league games including back-to-back home wins against Liverpool (3-1) and Bournemouth (2-0).
Brentford have been particularly strong on their own patch, with leaders Arsenal the only team to leave with three points this season and Chelsea the only other away team to manage a clean sheet.
Thomas Frank’s men can turn on the style at times and as well as their impressive victory over Liverpool, they thrashed Manchester United 4-0 in August and put five goals past Leeds here in September.
Looking at the Brentford vs Southampton odds, a home win and over 3.5 total goals is tempting at 4/1.
Last Brentford line-up: Raya, Pinnock, Mee, Ajer, Henry, Norgaard, Jensen, Dasilva, Roerslev, Toney, Mbeumo.
Shandon Baptiste has been back in full training after a groin injury, while Pontus Jansson and Frank Onyeka (both hamstring) are “very close” to being available again, but will not feature this weekend.
Southampton Odds
Southampton’s cup exploits may have been a welcome distraction from their relegation scrap but Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at St James’ Park in the second leg of their semi-final denied them a shot at some silverware.
They are still in the FA Cup after a 2-1 win at home to Championship strugglers Blackpool last weekend but their hopes on Tyneside were quickly extinguished by Sean Longstaff’s first-half double.
Boss Nathan Jones said: “We’re really, really disappointed with the first 15, 20 minutes because we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.”
No team has conceded more first-half goals on their travels than Southampton while Brentford rank third for netting before the break at home behind Manchester City and Liverpool.
Saints were 2-0 down after only 14 minutes on their last visit here in May so the Bees to score at least twice in the first 45 minutes completes our Brentford vs Southampton betting tips at 4/1.
Last Southampton line-up: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Lyanco, Bree, Salisu, Bednarek, Ward-Prowse, Alcaraz, Diallo, Armstrong, Adams.
Stuart Armstrong and Juan Larios (groin) are closing in on a return. However, it remains to be seen whether deadline-day signings Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen Sulemana will feature. Defenders Kyle Walker-Peters (hamstring) and Tino Livramento (ACL) remain sidelined.
Additional stats
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