At A Glance
Having bounced back to form with a win on their travels against Brighton last weekend, Aston Villa are looking to remedy their home form when Southampton visit on Saturday.
Steven Gerrard’s team, who saw off the Seagulls 2-0, are searching for their first Villa Park victory in 2022, with the winless run on home turf stretching back to early December.
Ollie Watkins ended a six-game goal drought when he struck against Brighton last time out, making him the club’s top scorer with six.
Visitors Southampton have enjoyed their recent trips to B6, winning four and drawing two of their last six visits in the Premier League.
The latest match in that sequence saw current Villa forward Danny Ings net a stunner for the Saints in a 4-3 win.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team, who are on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions, also downed Villa 1-0 when the sides met at St Mary’s earlier in the season.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa are winless in their last six home league games against Southampton (D2 L4), losing the last three in a row while conceding 11 goals in the process.
Southampton have won six of their last eight Premier League games against Aston Villa (D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 25 against them in the competition (D6 L13).
Aston Villa won 2-0 at Brighton last time out, last winning consecutive Premier League games in November in Steven Gerrard’s first two games in charge – the first of which was against Brighton.
Southampton are unbeaten in five Premier League games (W3 D2), winning both of their last two by a 2-0 scoreline. Saints last won three consecutive league games without conceding in January 2016.
Southampton have scored in each of their last 10 Premier League games, with only league leaders Manchester City on a longer current run in the competition (17). Southampton have also scored in each of their last 10 home games, having failed to find the net in two of their first three at St Mary’s this season.
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has lost three of his last six Premier League home games (W1 D2). He’d only lost three of his first 60 home league games in charge at Rangers and Aston Villa combined.
Aston Villa striker Danny Ings has scored five goals in his last seven Premier League games against sides he’s previously played for in the competition. Ings scored 41 goals in 91 league games for Southampton between 2018 and 2021.
Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse has been involved in five goals in his last six Premier League games against Aston Villa (2 goals, 3 assists), scoring twice and assisting another in Saints’ 4-3 victory in this exact fixture last season.
Southampton’s Che Adams has been involved in a goal in each of his last four Premier League games (3 goals, 1 assist), his best such run in his English league career since scoring in six consecutive Championship games in January/February 2019.
Aston Villa’s Philippe Coutinho has been involved in five goals in nine Premier League appearances against Southampton (4 goals, 1 assist). Against no side has the Brazilian either scored or been involved in more goals in the competition.
The Last Meeting
Southampton struck inside the opening three minutes to beat Aston Villa at St Mary’s in November.
In what proved to be Dean Smith’s last match in charge of the club, Stuart Armstrong struck the decisive blow.
Backed by a raucous away end, Villa came close on several occasions through Anwar El Ghazi and Emiliano Buendía but couldn’t find a way through.
Team News
Carney Chukwuemeka has been ruled out by Steven Gerrard, joining Marvelous Nakamba on the sidelines.
Bertrand Traore is back in training and could feature at Villa Park.
Mohammed Salisu, Moi Elyounoussi, Kyle Walker-Peters and Shane Long will all be assessed by Southampton ahead of the game.
Their longer-term absentees are Lyanco, Nathan Tella and Alex McCarthy.
The Boss
“It’s a classic case of an ownership at Southampton that’s really backed the manager, given him time and shown patience. He’s developed an identity and a style, which the players look used to. They’re playing some really exciting, free-flowing football and pressing high, which is a model that Ralph Hasenhuttl likes to implement. I can only pay Southampton and their manager the utmost respect because of their season so far. My job is to put an end to that run. We want to make it about Aston Villa tomorrow and about us executing the game plan that we want.”
Steven Gerrard
