Aston Villa will entertain Southampton at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon as they look to maintain their 100% winning start at home. The Villans tasted their first defeat of this Premier League campaign last weekend when Leeds United beat them by a convincing 3-0 scoreline.
Dean Smith will demand a positive response from his players and could choose to stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation this weekend. Ollie Watkins has enjoyed a good run of form for the West Midlands outfit this season and should once again be guaranteed a start as the centre-forward up top.
4-3-3 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Southampton
Defence
Emiliano Martínez will keep his spot in goal for Smith’s side after shipping in three goals versus the Whites last Saturday. Ezri Konsa will resume his defensive partnership with Tyrone Mings at the centre of the Aston Villa backline as they focus on keeping Southampton’s Danny Ings and Che Adams in check during the 90 minutes.
Matty Cash should retain his place at right-back position while Matt Targett hopes to work his socks off on the other side as the left-back. Both of them will be instructed to keep a solid shape in defence as well as make a few dangerous runs towards the by-line.
Midfield
Smith’s midfield will be composed of Ross Barkley, Douglas Luiz and John McGinn. The hard-working trio’s primary aim would be to get a stranglehold in midfield so that they can cook up some promising goal-scoring chances in the offensive third of the pitch. All three midfielders have shown signs of maturity this season, but they can expect a real challenge while up against the high press of the Southampton players throughout the 90 minutes.
Conor Hourihane will be named on the bench but could come on to make an impact after the half-time break if Smith decides to call upon his services.
Attack
Jack Grealish will carry most of the creative burden down the left flank while Trezeguet attempts to put on a productive showing on the right-wing. Ollie Watkins will once again assume the duties of a centre-forward. The English striker has already bagged a hattrick against Liverpool this season but was toothless in his last league outing. Hence, we can expect him to be desperate to return to his goal-scoring ways when he laces up to face off against the Saints defenders this weekend.
Keinan Davis will have to settle for a spot on the bench but might feature as a second-half substitute if the Villans are in need of a goal during the latter stages of the contest.
