Aston Villa will face off against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium on Friday night as they try to collect maximum points on their travels. The Villans suffered a disappointing 4-1 loss at the hands of West Ham United last weekend, so they will be desperate to bounce back versus the Saints in the Premier League later this week.
The pressure is mounting on Dean Smith to turn things around. We can expect the Aston Villa boss to set his team up in a 4-3-3 formation and could make a few changes to his starting XI for this game. Both Axel Tuanzebe and Tyrone Mings are expected to play from the start.
4-3-3 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Southampton
Defence
Emiliano Martinez will feature in between the sticks for the Villans after he shipped in four goals in his last league outing. As mentioned earlier, Axel Tuanzebe will operate alongside Tyrone Mings at the centre of the Aston Villa backline as they look to keep the Southampton attackers frustrated throughout the game.
Matty Cash will assume his duties at right-back while Matt Targett plays on the other side as the left-back. Both of them will be given the freedom to express themselves in the opponent’s half so that they can offer enough support to the front players.
Ezri Konsa is suspended for this game but Kortney Hause will be available for selection on the bench.
The 4th Official uses images provided by the following image agency: Getty Images (https://www.gettyimages.de/)
Imago Images (https://www.imago-images.de/)
Midfield
The Villans will opt for a midfield three of Ashley Young, Marvelous Nakamba and John McGinn as they focus on winning the 50-50 battles at the centre of the park. All three of them will have to be at the top of their game if the visitors are to come away with a positive result from St. Mary’s Stadium.
Jacob Ramsey is out with an ankle injury but Aaron Ramsey will make up the numbers on Smith’s bench as he provides cover for the central midfield positions.
Attack
Leon Bailey could get a chance to impress as the left-sided winger while Emiliano Buendia hopes to catch the eye from the right flank. Ollie Watkins will once again get the nod to lead the charge for the West Midlands side down the middle in the absence of Danny Ings, who has tested positive with COVID-19.
