Premier League action takes place at St Mary’s Stadium tonight as Southampton host Brentford in the first of two midweek clashes in the league, the second being West Ham United vs Norwich City tomorrow evening.
Both sides were in FA Cup action at the weekend; the Saints claiming a 3-2 win away to Swansea on Saturday, with Shane Long scoring the winner in extra time to seal their spot in the fourth round, while Brentford saw off Port Vale comfortably in their game, with Bryan Mbuemo netting a hat-trick in a 4-1 away win.
Both sides have had a three day gap to prepare for this match, and both will be looking for three points in a game that could go either way. This is the first time these two teams have met in the top-flight.
A win for Brentford would see them move into the top half of the table, overtaking Crystal Palace and Leicester. On the other hand, a Saints win would see them leapfrog their opponents, and sit in 11th.
Southampton are unbeaten in three games, with Ralph Hassenhuttl’s men picking up five points from a possible nine in those matches. The pick of the bunch was sealing an impressive win over West Ham on Boxing Day. It’s exactly a month since their last defeat, which was a ruthless 3-0 loss to Arsenal.
This will be Southampton’s first Premier League game of 2022, after their clash with Newcastle United was postponed following COVID cases and injuries disrupting Eddie Howe’s squad.
Brentford have a mixed bag of form heading into this game, having won their last Premier League game, a 2-1 home victory over Aston Villa, but lost their previous two before that, to Brighton and Man City respectively.
Che Adams returns for Southampton following a positive COVID test, as well as Mohammed Salisu who has completed his suspension following his red card against Tottenham Hotspur on 28 December. Moussa Djenepo, Valentino Livramento and Kyle Walker-Peters are all unavailable for tonight’s game.
Brentford will be without Frank Onyeka, who is at the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria. Josh Dasilva, Tariqe Fosu, Rico Henry and David Raya all remain side-lined. However Sergi Canos and Mathias Jensen return from injury and could take part tonight.
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