Brentford vs Southampton Predictions

• Brentford have won their last three league games against Southampton without conceding
• The Bees have lost just one of their last seven home Premier League matches
• Southampton have won just one of their last eight away league games

Bees could just hold the edge

The future of striker Ivan Toney has overshadowed Brentford’s opening two matches of the Premier League campaign and manager Thomas Frank has tried to deflect that attention by not selecting the England forward.

And the Bees manager will not be too despondent with how things have gone. Admittedly, they lost 2-0 at Liverpool on Sunday but that was perhaps to be expected and a 2-1 opening win over Crystal Palace was encouraging.

The roles will be reversed from their trip to Anfield as they will be expected to comfortably see off promoted Southampton, who have suffered two 1-0 defeats against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest after winning the Championship playoffs.

Saints manager Russell Martin will be desperate to get off the mark as quickly as possible in what is likely to be a battle against relegation, but they need to be showing more up front, despite the fact they packed their shooting boots for their 5-3 EFL Cup win at Cardiff on Wednesday.

Lack of creativity is costing Saints

Defensively, Southampton have looked quite solid but they have mustered a total of just four shots on target in those two matches and that perhaps points to Saturday’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium being a quiet affair.

The Bees have not exactly been prolific in the final third either in Toney’s absence as they have had only seven shots on target in their two matches, although it is not a huge surprise that they had just two at Anfield.

There was enough to like in Brentford’s win over Palace to suggest they should have enough to beat the Saints, but they look unlikely to run away with things, so taking them to win and there being fewer than three goals in the game could be the way forward.

Such a conclusion would make a 2-0 win for Frank’s side of interest for those looking for a correct-score selection.

Wissa can be Frank’s main man

Yoane Wissa opened his seasonal account with the winner against the Eagles and there looks a strong chance that he will be able to make his mark again.

Wissa was on target 12 times last season when Toney’s role was also limited due to suspension and has carried on his fine form from last term, when he scored five times in his final eight games of the campaign.