Despite being pointless and goalless in their first two games of the Premier League campaign, Southampton and Russell Martin will stick to their tactical principles and look to dominate the ball against Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium, says Alfie House of the Daily Echo.

Two 1-0 defeats have opened their return to the top flight and, whilst their philosophy won't change, Martin may look to tweak his system and personnel when the Saints head to west London.

Southampton have started with two 1-0 defeats upon their return to the Premier League. What have you made of what you've seen from them so far?

They have probably seen things they have liked about the performances so far, particularly in the first game against Newcastle, but, ultimately, they have failed to show a cutting edge and have not scored a league goal yet.

They did have a couple of chances against 10 men at St James' Park, but against Nottingham Forest in their first home game, it looked as though they could have been there all night and not scored.

It has raised questions. They need to get a striker or a winger and a goalkeeper, but otherwise I think they are pretty settled in their team.

It's far too early to start panicking about the way the season might go - would you agree?

That is certainly what we and the club are saying. We have seen teams like Crystal Palace lose the first seven games of the season and stay up without any danger at all, so you can never write a team off after two games.

However, it has shown they need to make tweaks. I spoke to the manager after the game on Saturday and he was quite defensive about the fact they were playing effectively without a no.9, instead with two no.9s as wide men.

He did recognise that they might need to tweak that, so I think we could see a slightly different shape at Brentford on Saturday.

Have you been impressed with Saints' transfer dealings?

It has been a decent window but, at the time of writing, there are areas where they need to do more.

They have brought 11 players in, including their two best players from last season who were on loan: Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Flynn Downes.

Adam Lallana and Charlie Taylor have brought experience, Ben Brereton Díaz scored Premier League goals for Sheffield United last season and they have signed some young lads in defence: Ronnie Edwards and Nathan Wood.

They have just had a deal for goalkeeper Justin Bijlow fall through due to a failed medical, so maybe that is something that is sorted out by the weekend.

But they did bring in Matheus Fernandes from Sporting who looks to be a really good attacking midfielder and, if he comes onto the pitch, he is certainly someone to watch out for.

Fernandes aside, who else should Brentford fans keep an eye on at the weekend?

Brentford fans will not be worried about Southampton, based on the last two matches there! The games at the Gtech have been the death knell for Ralph Hasenhüttl and Nathan Jones, with both suffering 3-0 defeats.

It is going to be a completely different-looking team this time but, in terms of individual players, Brentford fans will have seen Jan Bednarek and Adam Armstrong, with the latter needing to prove he can do it in the Premier League.

The main difference is going to be the way they play; they are going to have so much of the ball and they are going to have chances, it is just whether they can do anything with those.

How is Russell Martin likely to set up his side in west London?

It has been a 5-3-2 in the first two games of the season - but it is an interesting 5-3-2, because left wing-back Kyle Walker-Peters plays as a central midfielder and the two forwards play as wingers, so it is not a conventional system.

Martin is someone who does not really believe in formations; they are just starting positions for him. It is all about fluidity on the ball.

They may well go to a 4-3-3, though, with someone like Cameron Archer coming in up front.

What's your score prediction?

Having been there for the last two away games at Brentford, I am going to say Brentford are going to win this one 2-1, with Bryan Mbeumo proving to be a right problem for Southampton.