Last two Brentford previews provided winners at odds of 3.16 and 2.30.
Premier League: Southampton- Brentford
It is probably a first for me to start an EPL preview with some Bundesliga notes, but I feel very similar to this as I did for the Bochum-Wolfsburg game on Sunday, when I began with ...........Wolfsburg can win this game, of course they can,but their odds make absolutely no sense and my hands are tied and I have to bet Bochum. For Bochum read Brentford.
I have no issues with this game as a "pick" , or even with Saints as a very marginal favourite, but the Bees are a point longer than that and it just doesn't add up.
Brentford are two points better off and have a six xP advantage, despite having had horrendous injury problems. The visitors now have record signing Kristoffer Ajer back in central defence and Mathias Jensen and Sergi Canos are available this evening. Sorensen/Roerslev/Janelt/Baptiste/Wissa/ Mbeumo have all recently returned from injury/COVID ,David Raya and Josh DaSilva are back training on grass and should be ready to return in about a month. Rico Henry cannot make his comeback today, but will almost certainly do so at Anfield on Sunday.
The future is bright, it is red and white ...........yellow tonight !
Bryan Mbeumo came off the bench at Port Vale on Saturday and 23 minutes later had a hat-trick and I expect him to start alongside Ivan Toney this evening and for the goals to continue to flow.
Saints did not want to play this rearranged game tonight and head coach Ralf (get your excuses in early) Hasenhuttl suggested it should be called off, but his team did not come close to meeting the new COVID rules, but that doesn't stop some managers asking ! The comments from him below the "good luck" sign off come from the local Hampshire Live website. The right back issues are bad as the Bees have plenty of pace out wide even without Rico Henry. The Bees won here 2-0 in the League Cup last season when still a Championship side and Saints fielded a very strong side that evening and the visitors rested a few, so positive memories for those that did play and no trip into the unknown for Brentford who will have a large travelling support ( away allocation sold out weeks ago), with many visiting fans living along the M3 (main road to Southampton ) corridor.
2 units Brentford level ball 2.77 asian line.
Good luck !
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl believes that Brentford and their manager Thomas Frank will be celebrating after seeing their Saints put through a grueling 120 minutes cup tie, 90 of which they spent with only ten men.
Saints will face Brentford just 72 hours after their cup win over Swansea, a night that certainly did not go entirely to plan for Hasenhuttl's side.
Southampton did book their place in the fourth round with a 3-2 win thanks to goals from Shane Long, Nathan Redmond and Mohamed Elyounoussi - but after fighting for so long without eleven men on the field, Hasenhuttl is expecting a hangover.
"The only team celebrating tonight will be Brentford, " he said. "They will know that we have played a very tough game tonight."
It will also leave them without a senior right-back for their midweek meeting with the Bees with Kyle Walker-Peters (suspension) and Tino Livramento (injury) also out.
"It's always a tough game when you play 90 minutes with a man down but we made it through after a very intense game.
Yan Valery saw red after just 30 minutes, leaving Saints to fight on a man down for the rest of the night.
"It's always a tough game when you play 90 minutes with a man down but we made it through after a very intense game.
"It's getting tough now too, we have more and more players out with Covid. The bench is getting younger.
