Southampton look to spend Christmas out of the bottom three with win at Villa

Southampton are back on the road this weekend as they travel to the Midlands to face fellow Premier League strugglers, Aston Villa.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side come into the clash on the back of a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of West Ham United last weekend at St Mary’s Stadium.

As for Villa, they were also beaten, 2-0 by Sheffield United at Bramall Lane after Jack Grealish missed a penalty.

It’s been a poor start to the season for both sides, with Villa only above the Saints on goal difference at the bottom of the table.

Both sides have won four games so far this term, making this weekend’s clash at Villa Park a significant one as the pair look to avoid spending Christmas in the bottom three.

?#SaintsFC have been continuing their preparations for the #PL trip to #AVFC ? https://t.co/qEYSFmeACL pic.twitter.com/jHKBkSxY7r

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) December 19, 2019

Team News

Dean Smith has no new injury concerns ahead of the visit of the Saints, while Tyrone Mings and Keinan Davis both remain out.

As for the visitors, they will be without forward Moussa Djenepo who is out with a hamstring injury, while Sofiane Boufal continues to work his way back from a stubbed big toe.

Defender Yan Valery will be out until the new year as he recovers from a viral infection, while Kevin Danso is a doubt with illness.

Ralph Hasenhüttl: ‘We must grab the opportunity’

“We must not look too far ahead, we have to stay with this game at the moment. There’s an opportunity and we must grab it,” Hasenhuttl told the Southampton FC website.

“A clean sheet will help massively,” he said. “We always score away but sometimes one goal must be enough and that means you have to defend well.”

Meanwhile, Dean Smith knows the importance of home form:

We’ve come through a tough fixture list and now we’re coming up against teams that are in and around us,” Smith told Aston Villa’s website.

“I said to the players at the start of the season that Villa Park is massive for us, the results and the performances that we get there.

“Our supporters have been fantastic and with the exception of Leicester City, nobody has had an easy ride at Villa Park.”