Week 18 brings us a match on Dec 18th, where Southampton plays host to Brentford in a clash of these two closely matched Premier League teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 6 degrees, so hopefuly the match makes up for the weather. In their last match, Southampton recorded a 0-3 loss against Arsenal. Alexandre Lacazette struck first for Arsenal in the 21st minute on a feed from Bukayo Saka, then Martin Ødegaard added another in the 27th minute on a feed from Kieran Tierney In the end, Southampton was frustrated by Arsenal’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Arsenal ended the match with the shutout victory. Southampton is looking for direction having earned 12 points in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 11th placed Brentford, recorded a 2-1 win against Watford. Emmanuel Dennis scored the first goal for Watford in the 24th minute, then in the 84th minute, Marcus Forss sent in a beautiful pass which was converted by Pontus Jansson Finally they completed the comback victory in the 95th minute on a penalty goal by Bryan Mbeumo to cap off a wild match. Brentford is looking for direction having 3 win and 5 losses in their last 10 matches.
These two teams have not yet played each other this season, so it will be interesting how the match turns out.
Ivan Toney has been the most effective weapon for Brentford lately. The English attacker has netted 2 goals in his last five matches. Che Adams has been the most effective weapon for Southampton lately. The English midfielder has netted 2 goals in his last 5 matches
Fraser Forster, Oriol Romeu, Stuart Armstrong, Jan Bednarek, Alex McCarthy and Jack Stephens are unavailable to play for Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team, while Kristoffer Ajer, Tarique Fosu-Henry, Ivan Toney, Joshua Da Silva and David Raya are unavailable to play for Thomas Frank’s team.