Brentford are back on home soil this weekend, with Southampton the visitors to the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Saints arrive bottom of the Premier League table and fresh from a midweek defeat to Newcastle United in the last four of the Carabao Cup.
However, Nathan Jones’ side have won four of their last seven games in all competitions and are just two points from safety.
The Opposition
Southampton
Plagued by a familiar sense of inconsistency in 2021/22, Southampton finished 15th in the Premier League for the second time in succession.
A top-half finish that at times looked near-certain eluded them for a fifth straight year.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men struggled away from home, winning just three of their 19 games on the road, and capitulated altogether from March onwards, losing nine of their final 12 games - a run that included a crippling 6-0 loss to Chelsea at St Mary’s.
In the end, just five points separated Southampton from the relegation places.
Only three of the nine signings Saints made this summer were over the age of 20, while five of the starting XI for the opening-day defeat to Tottenham Hotspur were aged 24 or under.
Southampton are building for the future, but at what cost? Before the season had even started, they were a 2/1 shot to be relegated and the 4-1 loss at Spurs did little to dispel fears of the drop.
In truth, there were few high points over the next three months. Southampton beat Chelsea, Leicester City and Bournemouth, but 12 points from the first 14 games saw them slip into the relegation zone.
Hasenhuttl clung onto his job into November, but a 4-1 thumping at home to Newcastle United spelled the end of his four-year spell on 7 November.
Nathan Jones left Luton Town for a second time to take over three days later. It was a calculated risk for the Welshman, who had left the Hatters for Stoke City in 2019, only to end up back in Bedfordshire less than 18 months later, with his project at the bet365 Stadium having failed to gain any sort of traction.
Jones took charge for the first time in the last game before the World Cup break - a 3-1 loss at Liverpool - and then got back underway on Boxing Day with a defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion by the same scoreline, which saw Southampton sink to the bottom of the league.
By 4 January, they had lost twice more, extending the winless league run to seven matches.
If the Southampton fans were not already disillusioned, they were now. And when they fell behind to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round on 7 January, they began to turn on Jones. He had the last laugh that night, though, with James Ward-Prowse and Adam Armstrong hitting back to secure a 2-1 win and a fourth-round place.
In fact, while the league form continues to suffer - the win at Everton on 14 January remains Jones’ only league victory in six attempts - his men have thrived in cup competitions, where he has overseen four wins in six matches, reaching the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and the fifth round of the FA Cup.
There is no doubt those results will have provided a much-needed boost in morale, but, as obvious as it may sound, Saints need to replicate those performances in the Premier League.
The Gameplan
With The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell
“Nathan Jones wants height in his team, so will probably play with three centre-backs. He sometimes uses one of them at right-back.
“In and out of possession, his team changes from a back three to a back four, so that is probably something to keep an eye on.
"Southampton try to play forward quickly into the hold-up play of Che Adams with runners off him.”
Read the full interview with Jacob Tanswell
Team News
Jansson and Onyeka closing in on return, but unavailable for Southampton
Brentford have no new injury worries ahead of Saturday’s game and could welcome back Shandon Baptiste after a groin injury.
Frank Onyeka and Pontus Jansson (both hamstring) are ‘very close’ to a return but not in contention for Southampton. The Saints are unlikely to be able to call upon big-money arrivals Kamaldeen Sulemana and Paul Onuachu due to work-permit issues.
Tino Livramento (knee), Stuart Armstrong (groin) and Juan Larios (muscle) are all out while Kyle Walker-Peters will be a late decision after going off against Newcastle United on Tuesday night.
First-team players Duje Caleta-Car, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Mislav Orsic and Moussa Djenepo were all involved for Southampton’s B side on Friday afternoon in the Premier League Cup.
Stats Zone
Playmaker provide the key numbers ahead of Saturday’s game at the Gtech
8 Only Newcastle (15) and Arsenal (13) are on a longer unbeaten run in the Premier League than Brentford
7 Only Manchester United (9) and Tottenham (8) have scored more goals in the last 15 mins (76-90+) than Brentford (7)
5 Brentford are top for most goals scored from the penalty spot (5)
173 Only Manchester City (169) have committed fewer fouls than Brentford (173)
97 Brentford are joint top for most shots blocked (97)
323 Brentford also rank 1st for most aerial duels won (323)
7 Only Newcastle (12), Arsenal (9), Man City (8) and Man United (8) have kept more clean sheets than Brentford (7)
13 Ivan Toney is currently 3rd in the goal charts with 13 goals. Only Haaland (25) and Kane (16) have scored more
86 David Raya remains top for most saves made across UEFA’s top 5 leagues (86)
7 Raya is 5th for most clean sheets (7)
216 Raya is also top for most accurate long passes (216)
70 Ben Mee (70) and Toney (55) rank 2nd and 3rd respectively for most aerial duels won this term, only trailing Aleksandar Mitrovic (77)
35 Southampton rank 2nd for most goals conceded (35) and have the 2nd-worst goal difference in the league (-18)
1 The Saints have kept fewer clean sheets (1) than any team in the division
4 Southampton are 1 of 4 teams yet to score a goal from the penalty spot, but also remain 1 of 3 teams yet to concede from a spot-kick
9 Southampton are 3rd for most goals conceded from set-pieces (9). Only Bournemouth (13) and Villa (10) have conceded more
42 Ward-Prowse ranks 6th for most key passes (42), only behind Kevin De Bruyne (63), Kieran Trippier (59), Bruno Fernandes (50), Andreas Pereira (48) and Bukayo Saka (43)
159 After David Raya, Gavin Bazunu (159) has played the most accurate long passes
The Boss
Nathan Jones
Nathan Jones began his playing career in his homeland Wales, before joining Luton Town in the summer of 1995.
Following a spell in Spain with Badajoz and Numancia, he returned to England for stints at Southend United, Scarborough and Brighton and Hove Albion. He finished his playing career at Yeovil Town in 2005.
While at Yeovil, Jones began taking his coaching badges, spending time as first-team coach of Yeovil Town Ladies and later player-assistant manager of the first team, before a move to Charlton Athletic as their under-21 professional development coach.
He returned to Brighton as a member of the coaching staff to Oscar Garcia in 2013, before going onto work with Sami Hyypia and Chris Hughton. Jones left Brighton in January 2016 to take over as manager of League Two club Luton Town.
He guided the Hatters to the League Two Play-Offs in 2016/17, before losing out to Blackpool, but earned automatic promotion to League One in 2017/18 after finishing second.
With Luton on course for a second successive promotion, Jones left in January 2019 for Championship club Stoke City. He was dismissed less than a year later in November 2019.
Jones returned to Luton in May 2020 and saved the club from Championship relegation.
During the 2022/23 season, he left Luton for a second time to join Southampton.
Last Meeting
Brentford 3 Southampton 0 (Premier League, 7 May 2022)
Brentford 3 Southampton 0
Two goals in 90 first-half seconds set Brentford on their way to a fine 3-0 win over Southampton.
Pontus Jansson and Yoane Wissa both found the net in quick succession as the Bees took control of an entertaining contest.
When the game settled down, Brentford had the upper hand and Kristoffer Ajer added a third late on.
Match Officials
Bond returns for first Brentford fixture in more than 18 months
Referee: Darren Bond
Assistants: Adrian Holmes and Matthew Wilkes
Fourth official: Michael Salisbury
VAR: Craig Pawson
Assistant VAR: James Mainwaring
Lancashire official Darren Bond will take charge of his 20th Brentford game on Saturday, but first since April 2021.
This weekend's game will be only the third time the Bees have been the home side under Bond; the other games in TW8 a 2-0 win over Bradford City in March 2014 and goalless draw against Millwall.
Brentford are unbeaten in the last eight matches with Bond in charge, winning four of the past five. They include a 5-1 demolition of Hull City in February 2020 and victories at Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Middlesbrough during the Sky Bet Championship promotion-winning season.
This weekend’s match will only be Bond’s second top-flight assignment of the season; his first seeing eight yellow cards handed out in the game between Leicester City and Fulham last month.
Southampton 22/23
227 fouls – 4th in Premier League
32 yellow cards – 14th in Premier League
0 red cards – joint-fewest in Premier League