Aston Villa will be looking to make it back-to-back victories in the Premier League on the bounce when they welcome an inform Southampton to Villa Park for their matchday 28 encounter on Saturday evening with kickoff at 18:00.
Aston Villa showed great prospects at the begin of Steven Gerrard’s tenure at the club, but they have been struggling recently with the side claiming just two victories from their last eight Premier League matches, picking up two draws while suffering four defeats in the process.
However, Gerrard’s side head into the match in high spirits as they are coming off a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Brighton at Amex Stadium last weekend. Villa only saw 33% of the ball in the match, but managed to edge the Seagulls with the goals from Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins securing three important points for Gerrard and co.
The win saw them increase the gap between them and the relegation to nine points and are now just three points outside the top-half with a match in hand on the 10th-placed Brighton. A win on Saturday for Villa could see them climb back into the top-half while reducing the gap between them and the Saints to two points.
However, a success for Villa could prove challenging as they have only won two of their last 14 encounters against Southampton and are actually winless in their last six meetings at Villa Park against the Saints.
Southampton are the team nobody wants to face in the Premier League right now as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men are currently buzzing in good form and have been a really hard nut to crack in the recent weeks. The Saints have now just lost one of their last 13 matches across all competitions claiming eight victories and four draws in the process.
They are coming off a three-match winning streak claiming back-to-back 2-0 victories against Everton and Norwich in the Premier League, before booking a place in the next round of the FA Cup following a 3-1 victory against West Ham in the fifth round at home last Wednesday.
The Saints currently sit ninth in the Premier League standings; 14 points clear of the relegation zone and are pushing for a European finish with 10 points keeping them behind the sixth-placed Arsenal. A win on Saturday could make them new dark horses for a top-four finish.
Therefore, they will be looking to continue their fine form as they continue to put pressure on the teams above them and they will fancy their chances of claiming maximum points on Saturday, having won all of their last six consecutive Premier League matches against Aston Villa.
Aston Villa vs Southampton head to head
Both sides have met in 38 encounters since 1993 with Southampton claiming 16 victories while Villa have claimed 14 victories and there have been eight draws.
- Southampton 1-0 Aston Villa 05/11/21
- Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa 30/01/21
- Aston Villa 3-4 Southampton 01/11/20
- Southampton 2-0 Aston Villa 22/02/20
- Aston Villa 1-3 Southampton 21/12/19
Home
- Brighton 0-2 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 0-1 Watford
- Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 3-3 Leeds
- Everton 0-1 Aston Villa
Away
- Southampton 3-1 West Ham
- Southampton 2-0 Norwich
- Southampton 2-0 Everton
- Man United 1-1 Southampton
- Tottenham 2-3 Southampton
Aston Villa team news
Villa will be without Marvelous Nakamba and Bertrand Traore due to injuries.
Southampton team news
The Saints will be without Alex McCarthy and Lyanco due to injuries while Nathan Tella is a doubt.
Prediction and odds
- Southampton win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
