Relegation-threatened Southampton welcome European-chasing Brentford to St Mary’s for a Premier League encounter on Wednesday night. While the Saints can move out of the bottom three with a victory, the Bees could climb into the top seven if they claim maximum points on the South Coast.
Team News:
Southampton will still be without Valentino Livramento (ACL) and Juan Larios (muscle) as they continue to recover from long-term injuries, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be assessed ahead of kickoff after missing the draw at Man United with a minor “issue”.
James Bree, Lyanco and Mislav Orsic all played for the B Team last weekend and will be hoping to return to the senior matchday squad on Wednesday.
Selles is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, with Theo Walcott, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Che Adams all set to continue in attack, although the likes of Paul Onuachu, Adam Armstrong and Sekou Mara will all be pushing to start.
As for Brentford, Thomas Strakosha (ankle) and Keane Lewis-Potter (knee) are both ruled out, the latter of whom is set for around two months on the sidelines after recently undergoing surgery, while Mads Roerslev (hamstring) is doubtful and will be assessed ahead of the trip to St Mary’s.
Frank could stick with the same back four of Aaron Hickey, Ethan Pinnock, Ben Mee and Rico Henry that started against Everton, although one of Pontus Jansson or Kristoffer Ajer could return to the first XI should the Bees boss decide to switch to a back three.
Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade will be pushing to start in attack ahead of Mikkel Damsgaard, while Bryan Mbuemo – who scored against Southampton last month – is expected to continue alongside top scorer Ivan Toney.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bella-Kotchap, Bednarek, Perraud; Lavia, Ward-Prowse, Alcaraz; Walcott, Adams, Sulemana
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Hickey, Pinnock, Mee, Henry; Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Toney, Wissa
Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Brentford
Southampton’s resilience at the back has been a major factor behind their recent upturn in form under Selles, but adding goals to their game is required if they wish to climb out the drop zone, having scored only three times in their last seven league matches.
Brentford’s poor away form bodes well for the Saints ahead of Wednesday’s clash, but considering the Bees’ comfortable victory in the reverse fixture last month, we can see Frank’s men coming away with maximum points at St Mary’s.
