Southend vs Brentford Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Having lost on the opening day, Southend earned themselves some respite by drawing away from home at the weekend, and they’ll now be looking to gain their first competitive win of the season when they welcome Championship side Brentford to Roots Hall on Tuesday evening.

As far as League One goes, Southend have made a poor start to the new campaign, so it’s not easy to know how they’ll approach this game. Will the Shrimpers see it as a chance to get up to speed, build momentum and potentially get a confidence-boosting win under their belts? Or will they see it as an unneeded distraction from matters in the league? At the end of the day, a cup run can do wonders for Football League clubs, especially those in League One or Two, and not just in terms of financial reward. If Southend were to beat Brentford, then they’d likely go into their next league game brimming with confidence.

What’s more, Southend have a score to settle in this competition as they attempt to improve on what is frankly an appalling recent record. The Essex club have failed to win any of their last eight matches in the League Cup, while they’ve lost seven of those in normal time. This time last season they were disappointingly knocked out by Newport County on home soil.

Brentford have made a more pleasing start to the domestic campaign than their hosts on Tuesday night. Dean Smith’s men beat Rotherham by five goals to one on the opening day, while they earned a respectable draw away at Stoke on Saturday. However, their record in this competition in recent years hasn’t been overly impressive. Last season, the Bees did make it through the opening two rounds, beating AFC Wimbledon and QPR, before losing to Norwich, though that was the first time since 2014 that they’d made it past the opening round.

What’s more, in addition to not exactly being prolific in terms of wins in this competition, they’ve struggled to beat lower-level teams. Brentford have failed to win any of their last four League Cup matches against lower-league teams in 90 minutes, while they’ve only come through two of those fixtures. The current crop are no mugs, and they probably won’t be too far away from finishing in the top six this season, though they’ll be in for a game at Roots Hall on Tuesday.

Although the hosts are without a win yet this season, they’ve been scoring goals, while they’re always a threat on their own patch. However, keeping goals out is proving to be tricky, so it’s not at all hard to envisage a side of Brentford’s pedigree finding the net on Tuesday night, especially after they scored away at Stoke last time out.

The visitors have more than enough quality to make their presence felt at Roots Hall, though their defensive record in this competition is very poor. Somewhat unbelievably, Brentford have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 19 League Cup matches, a run that stretches back to 2006.

Taking into consideration the fact that both teams are likely to fancy their chances going forward, coupled with their respective performances so far this season, ‘Both Teams to Score’ gets the nod.