Preview: Southampton vs Millwall - prediction, team news, lineups

First meets last in the Championship this weekend as Southampton welcome Millwall to St Mary's for the third round of league fixtures.

The Saints sit 24th in the table despite picking up their first win of the season last week, having started on minus four points following their deduction for their involvement in 'Spygate', while the Lions have won all four of their competitive matches so far this campaign.

Match preview

Few teams can claim to have won a Championship playoff semi-final tie, looked forward to a Wembley final and then been expelled from the competition, but Southampton found themselves in that extraordinary position last season.

Following the controversial espionage incident, the Saints admitted to spying on three teams' training sessions during the 2025-26 campaign, with the activity authorised by manager Tonda Eckert.

As a result, Southampton were removed from the playoffs despite beating Middlesbrough in their semi-final tie, with their place in the final eventually taken by the side they had defeated, while they were also handed a four-point deduction ahead of the new season.

Eckert's side therefore began the campaign on minus four points and remain in 24th despite taking that tally to minus one, having followed an opening-day defeat to Watford with a 3-1 home victory over Stoke City.

That win was secured late on after the sides remained level heading into the closing stages, before goals from Divin Mubama and Ryan Manning in the 89th and 94th minutes respectively secured Southampton's first league victory of the season.

The Saints were then back in EFL Cup action in midweek, where they welcomed recently relegated West Ham United to St Mary's and suffered a 4-1 defeat despite taking an early lead through Leo Scienza after just 10 minutes.

As for Millwall, they enjoyed an excellent 2025-26 campaign, finishing third after recording 24 wins, 11 draws and 11 defeats to secure a playoff place and finish three points above Saturday's opponents.

However, Alex Neil's side were unable to overcome Hull City across their two-legged semi-final, bringing their season to an end at the hands of the eventual playoff winners.

Despite that disappointment, the Lions can take plenty of encouragement from their campaign and have carried that momentum into the new season, winning all four of their competitive matches.

Millwall began with an EFL Cup trip to Queens Park Rangers, advancing after a penalty shootout in which goalkeeper Lukas Jensen remarkably saved all four of the R's' spot-kicks, before turning their attention to the Championship.

Neil's side subsequently recorded 2-0 and 3-0 victories over Bristol City and Norwich City respectively, with those results sending them to the top of the table while also maintaining their perfect defensive record in the league

They then returned to the EFL Cup for a second-round trip to in-from Cambridge United, where they faced former boss Neil Harris and secured a 1-0 victory to make it four wins from four.

Recent meetings between these sides have generally been closely fought, with the last encounter to be decided by more than one goal coming in 2014, while the most recent clash ended in a goalless draw at St Mary's on New Year's Day last season.

Southampton Championship form:

Southampton form (all competitions):

Millwall Championship form:

Millwall form (all competitions):

Team News

With both sides featuring in the EFL Cup earlier this week, changes are expected from both managers as they return their focus to Championship action.

Although Southampton fielded a relatively strong side against West Ham, Eckert is expected to restore Cyle Larin and Irish international Finn Azaz to his attack for Saturday's clash.

Caspar Jander remains unavailable after an injury kept him out of the entire campaign so far, with the German midfielder having played just one pre-season match during the summer.

Millwall made 10 changes for their midweek victory at Cambridge but still secured a third consecutive win and third clean sheet of the season, highlighting the strength available to Neil.

Tairyk Arconte and Josh Coburn have both scored twice in the Championship and should return to the starting lineup, while Jake Cooper could retain his place after scoring during the week.

Neil remains without Massimo Luongo, Mathis Servais, Femi Azeez and Mihailo Ivanovic, who are all dealing with various injury issues.

Southampton possible starting lineup:

Peretz; Bree, Wood, Stephens, Manning; Downes, Matsuki; Fellows, Azaz, L. Scienza; Larin

Millwall possible starting lineup:

Jensen; Sykes, Taylor, Cooper, Sturge; Neghli, De Norre, Metcalfe; Arconte, Coburn, Lisbie

We say: Southampton 1-1 Millwall

With recent meetings between the sides traditionally producing tight encounters, we expect another closely fought contest at St Mary's on Saturday afternoon.

Millwall have made the stronger start and arrive at the south coast with four wins from four, but Southampton will have home advantage and could have enough to hold the league leaders to a 1-1 draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.