At A Glance
Aston Villa will look to end January on a high when they take on Southampton at St Mary’s in the Premier League on Saturday night.
A month which has seen a COVID-19 outbreak among the first team squad and a few tough away trips has so far produced three points from four league games.
Villa led twice against Burnley last time out but were handed their third consecutive away defeat after going down 3-2 at Turf Moor on Wednesday.
Southampton are on a sticky run of their own, with one win from their last seven top-flight outings.
Progress in the FA Cup has taken them past Shrewsbury Town and Arsenal during January, but they lost 3-1 to the Gunners in their last Premier League match on Tuesday.
Danny Ings scored against Villa earlier in the season and remains the Saints’ biggest threat, with seven league goals to his name.
Standout Stats
Southampton have won their last four Premier League matches against Aston Villa, their best top-flight winning run against the Villans since August 1989, when they also won four consecutively; they’ve never won five in a row against Villa in the top tier.
Aston Villa are winless in their last eight Premier League matches against Southampton (D3 L5) since a 3-2 win in December 2013.
Southampton have lost their last two Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 15 in the competition (W8 D5). They last lost three in a row in November 2019.
After winning five of their first seven away league games this season (D1 L1) and keeping five clean sheets in the process, Aston Villa have lost each of their last three on the road, conceding at least twice each time.
Since Ralph Hasenhüttl’s first game in charge in December 2018, Southampton have dropped more points from winning positions than any other side in the Premier League (47).
Southampton striker Shane Long has been directly involved in 12 goals in 16 Premier League appearances against Aston Villa (7 goals, 5 assists). In all competitions, Long has scored nine goals against Villa, more than he has against any other club in his professional career.
Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish has been involved in 14 Premier League goals in 18 games this season (6 goals, 8 assists), the same number he was involved in in 36 appearances last season (8 goals, 6 assists).
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins is looking to score in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time, last doing so in league competition in August 2018 with Brentford in the Championship.
The Last Meeting
Seven goals were scored the last time these two clubs went head-to-head in an entertaining affair at Villa Park earlier in the season.
Southampton attacked from the off and took a 3-0 half-time lead, mainly inspired by two free-kicks from James Ward-Prowse.
Danny Ings extended their advantage before Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish all netted as Villa looked to stage a stunning comeback.
Team News
New signing Morgan Sanson will travel down to the game with the squad, Dean Smith confirmed at his pre-match press conference.
The Villa head coach has no new injury concerns following the defeat at Burnley, with Kortney Hause and Wesley the only players sidelined.
Saints are without Jannik Vestergaard, Will Smallbone, Michael Obafemi and Nathan Tella through injury.
Kyle Walker-Peters missed their last game against Arsenal after picking up a muscle injury in training, while Ryan Bertrand returns after suspension.
The Boss
“I said before we played them at Villa Park that the progression that they’ve made, since Project Restart and the way they’ve started the season, has been terrific. It just shows you what can be done by having that continuity at the club with Ralph (Hasenhüttl) and his coaching staff. They’ve topped the league at times this season and they may not be having their brightest spell at the moment, they just lost to Arsenal, but it’s been a fantastic season so far.”
Dean Smith
How To Watch
Aston Villa fans can watch Saturday night's game live on Sky Sports.
