Brentford-Southampton Preview

Ruben Selles wants his Southampton side to ignore the noise surrounding an incredibly tight battle at the wrong end of the Premier League, as the division's bottom club prepare to host Brentford.

Southampton have earned seven points from four league games under Selles (W2 D1 L1), as many as they did in their previous 12 before he took charge (W2 D1 L9).

Despite a 1-0 win over Leicester City being followed up by a goalless draw at Manchester United, Saints are still bottom - albeit within just five points of eight other clubs.

"It's so tight but we knew our chance was to make the games difficult for our opponents, to look at our own performances and control the things we can control," Selles said on Tuesday.

"I think we are doing that. More than the three points tomorrow, it's about us having the personality to bring our game, to have a big performance.

"If we do that, we have a chance to win the game. We're not thinking about what happens with one point, three points or zero points.

"If you spend time looking at the table every single week you get stressed by facts you cannot control."

Upcoming opponents Brentford saw their 12-game unbeaten Premier League run ended on Saturday, succumbing to a 1-0 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park.

With the Bees just four points adrift of the top six, boss Thomas Frank is keen to see them bounce back.

"I thought Everton were better than us in the first half, we lost the physical battle, the second balls, and we didn't win enough duels," he said.

"That was combined with not being on top of the ball, not finding positions well enough and not putting passes together.

"We should have got more out of it, at least a draw. So, our second-half performance, I'm very pleased with. Now we need to bounce back."

Southampton - Carlos Alcaraz

Having scored against Wolves and Leicester at St Mary's, Alcaraz could become only the second player to score on each of his first three home Premier League outings for Southampton.

David Hirst is the only player to previously do so, when Saints played at the Dell in November 1997. If the Argentine can repeat his feat, it could provide the hosts' survival hopes with a major boost.

Brentford - Bryan Mbeumo

Mbeumo has been directly involved in three goals in his three Premier League games against Southampton (one goal, two assists).

He both scored and assisted in a 3-0 win for Brentford in the reverse fixture earlier this season, and a repeat would be welcome after Saturday's loss at Everton.

After beating Leicester 1-0 two weeks ago, Southampton could win back-to-back home Premier League games for the first time since February 2022.

However, Saints have fewer home points (nine) and home wins (two) than any other side in the top-flight this term.

Brentford lost for the first time in 13 Premier League matches against Everton last time out - the Bees haven't lost consecutive games in the competition since February 2022.

Southampton: 28.8 percent

Brentford: 42.7 percent

Draw: 28.5 percent

Updated March 14, 2023