Southampton welcome Aston Villa to St Mary’s Stadium in a huge clash as the Saints look to revive their top five hopes, whilst Villa look to move away from the relegation zone.
Southampton will stay in 12th position if they take victory whilst Villa could climb as high as 15th with a win and results elsewhere going in their favour.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesSouthampton will be without Nathan Redmond due to a muscle injury picked up in training before last weekend’s defeat to Burnley.
Sofiane Boufal (foot) and Kyle Walker-Peters (calf) are also ruled out but are expected to be available next Saturday.
Villa have no fresh injury concerns with Tyrone Mings expected to feature in defence after recovering from tonsillitis which saw him sidelined against Tottenham last weekend.
Keinan Davis (thigh) and John McGinn (ankle) are expected to be available in the coming weeks, whilst Wesley, Tom Heaton (both knee) and Jed Steer (calf) remain ruled out indefinitely.
Form
Southampton enter this match with one win from their last four league matches (W1, L3), whilst scoring in nine of their last ten at home in all competitions.
Villa come into this game with four points from their last five games (W1, D1, L3), although they have scored and conceded in each of their last seven outings in all competitions.
Stat Attack
- Southampton are unbeaten in their last seven meetings against Aston Villa in all competitions (W4, D3).
- Villa have avoided defeat in three of their last five trips to St Mary’s Stadium (W2, D1, L2).
- Both teams have scored in their last five league meetings.
- Villa are yet to receive a penalty in 35 previous Premier League clashes against Southampton.
- 17 of 35 previous Premier League meetings saw neither team keep a clean sheet, whilst both teams managed nine clean sheets against each other.
Prediction
Mings’ return will be a welcome boost for Villa who continue to show plenty of grit and determination despite woeful defending, which Southampton has improved on in recent months.
Southampton however struggled with Burnley’s pressing and were mainly limited to long range shots last weekend, but if they can get on the front foot here and can push higher up then I do fancy them to get a result here.
Defending however will be the key factor for both teams but I think that the Saints will have enough quality to beat Villa here if can quickly seize control of this match.
Prediction: Southampton 2-1 Aston Villa
Result: Southampton 2-0 Aston Villa
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