Southampton vs Brentford

Southampton’s disastrous Premier League campaign has reached a ‘make or break’ point as they entertain road strugglers Brentford at St Mary’s Stadium.

Southampton’s elite status in English football is under imminent threat after back-to-back defeats toward the end of last calendar year left them rooted to the foot of the Premier League table. Eight points adrift of safety, Ivan Juric’s charges are in a must-win position ahead of Brentford’s visit to St Mary’s this weekend. However, the Saints have only won one of their six home H2Hs in the 21st century (D2, L3), with all three defeats yielding an identical 2-0 scoreline. That paints a bleak picture for Juric as he bids to inspire Southampton to only their second Premier League win this season (W1, D3, L15). St Mary’s hasn’t been Southampton’s safe haven by any stretch of the imagination, given that they’ve only won one of their last 16 Premier League games on this ground (D3, L12).

That’s music to Brentford’s ears as they head into proceedings amid a wasteful four-game winless Premier League streak (D1, L3) after dropping an early lead in a 3-1 home defeat to Arsenal last time out. Growing injury problems have derailed Brentford’s season, but that’s hardly an excuse for the Bees’ below-par return of only two points from nine top-flight travels in 2024/25 (D2, L7). Despite boasting the division’s fifth-best scoring record this season, only six of Brentford’s 33 Premier League goals have come on the road. In addition to their underwhelming scoring exploits outside the Gtech Community Stadium, Thomas Frank’s men have conceded 2+ goals on seven of their nine league travels, casting further doubt on their quest to post their first Premier League win on the road since May.