Aston Villa will lock horns with Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday night as they try to return to winning ways in the Premier League. The Villans suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat away at Burnley earlier this week, which has halted their momentum heading into this weekend’s showdown at the south coast of England.
Dean Smith will probably set his team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and is expected to name an unchanged starting XI for this clash on the road. The West Midlands side will have to be at their best if they are to earn maximum points versus the Saints, so the Villa boss is unlikely to take any risks with his team selection.
4-2-3-1 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Southampton
Defence
Emiliano Martinez will operate in between the sticks for the Villans after he shipped in three goals versus the Clarets in his last league start. Tyronne Mings will once again partner Ezri Konsa at the centre of the Villa backline as they try to stop the Saints from scoring throughout the 90 minutes.
Matty Cash will be a nailed-on starter at right-back while Matt Targett focusses on producing a productive display on the other side as the left-back. They will both be eager to venture forward and make some overlapping runs out on the wide areas.
Neil Taylor and Bjorn Engels will have to settle for a place on the bench but could come on to influence the game in the second 45 minutes if Smith decides to call upon their services.
Midfield
John McGinn and Douglas Luiz will assume the duties of the holding midfielders as their main job would be to shield the Villa backline by breaking down some of the Southampton attacks on the counter. The gifted trio of Jack Grealish, Ross Barkley and Bertrand Traore will function just ahead of them as part of the Villans attack.
Grealish managed to get his name on the scoresheet on Wednesday night, so he will be quietly confident about putting on a similar performance when he laces up to face off against the Saints defenders this weekend.
Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet will be available for selection on the Villa bench as they wait for their chance to make an impact in the latter stages if required.
Attack
Ollie Watkins will lead the line for the West Midlands giants up top. He is enjoying a decent run of form after scoring in back to back matches versus Newcastle United and Burnley respectively. Hence, Smith would hope that his first-choice striker can find the back of the net once again in the Premier League later this week.
