Southampton and Aston Villa square off in the Premier League at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints’ inevitable relegation from the top flight was confirmed last Sunday when losing 3-1 at Tottenham, helping our man Kevin Mac deliver a full house of winners.
Consequently, Southampton now hold the unenviable record of suffering the earliest relegation in Premier League history.
The Saints hierarchy have since parted company with manager Ivan Juric, with Simon Rusk placed in interim charge for the remainder of the season.
As for Aston Villa, they have boosted their top four hopes thanks to three Premier League wins in succession, the most recent of which was a hard-fought 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.
However, Unai Emery’s side will have to lift themselves up off the canvas after falling to a 3-1 defeat at PSG on Wednesday night, in a game that brought up my Bet Builder.
How the bookies view it: More misery at St Mary’s
Southampton – who have won just two of their 31 Premier League games this season – are big outsiders here at 4/1 (Boylesports) while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 16/5 (Boylesports).
Aston Villa are short-priced 11/20 favourites on Boylesports to make it four Premier League wins on the bounce this weekend. Backing a Villa victory alongside over 1.5 goals will boost the odds to a much more enticing 4/5 on Boylesports.
Head to head: History against the hosts
Southampton have come away empty-handed from each of their last four Premier League meetings with Aston Villa, failing to score in each of those four losses. Another Aston Villa win alongside a clean sheet on Saturday can be backed at 15/8 on Boylesports.
Players to watch: Ollie to sink Saints?
Ollie Watkins could come back into the Aston Villa side on Saturday afternoon, making him an attractive 4/5 (PaddyPower) play for a goal or an assist at St Mary.
One of the few shining lights for Southampton this season has been the emergence of Tyler Dibling. The Saints teenage star is a 9/2 (Boylesports) anytime goalscorer option on Saturday afternoon.
Predicted line-ups
Southampton will be unable to call upon the services of Flynn Downes, who will serve the second of his two-match suspension after collecting his 10th yellow card of the season against Crystal Palace last midweek.
With one eye on next week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg tie with PSG, Aston Villa boss Emery is expected to rotate his resources at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Southampton: Ramsdale; Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap; Sugawara, Aribo, Ugochukwu, Walker-Peters; Fernandes; Archer, Dibling
Aston Villa: Martinez; Garcia, Disasi, Mings, Maatsen; Onana, Tielemans; Asensio, Malen, Rogers; Watkins
Anything else catch the eye?
Look for Southampton to hit four or more corners on Saturday afternoon at an eye-catching even-money (1/1) with Bet 365.
The Saints have averaged 4.10 flag-kicks per 90 in the top flight this term, and they may be able to play with a bit more freedom now that their fate has been sealed.
They will be coming up against an Aston Villa side that are giving up an average of 5.47 corners per game away from home in the Premier League this season.
This English Premier League match between Southampton and Aston Villa will be played on and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Southampton vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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