Aston Villa kick off Super Sunday as they welcome Southampton to Villa Park in a mouth-watering Premier League clash.
Victory will send Villa second for at least a few hours whilst Southampton can leapfrog their hosts and go third with a win.
Team News
Kortney Hause could return for Villa if he can recover from a groin strain.
Tom Heaton and Wesley meanwhile remain absent with long-term knee injuries, although Heaton is expected to return after the international break ahead of Wesley.
Southampton will have Theo Walcott available after he missed last week’s match through ineligibility as the Saints beat his parent club – Everton.
Mohamed Salisu (fitness), Will Smallbone (Quadriceps) and Moussa Djenepo (hamstring) are unlikely to feature until next weekend, despite returning to team training.
Stat Attack
- Villa are winless in their last seven league meetings against Southampton (D3, L4).
- Southampton have claimed 11 points from their last five trips to Villa Park (W3, D2).
- Alex McCarthy has made five sweeper clearances for Southampton this season, which is currently a joint league-high alongside Burnley’s Nick Pope.
- No Southampton player has made more substitute appearances in their six league games so far than Shane Long, who has come off the bench on four occasions.
- Villa have made the joint highest number of high claims this season alongside Fulham with eight high claims apiece.
Prediction
Villa saw their strong start to this season abruptly ended last weekend when they put in a performance reminiscent of their struggles of last season, with Leeds totally ripping their defence apart in a clinical second-half display.
Southampton meanwhile are continuing to improve after a slow start and were simply ruthless yet clinical to defeat Everton so will be a team not to underestimate given how strong they are when can get momentum building continuously.
Should Villa turn up and deliver a more typical attacking performance of recent weeks then we definitely will have a match on our hands, otherwise I can see Southampton’s form in this fixture continuing.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Result: Aston Villa 3-4 Southampton