Southampton vs Aston Villa preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time, live on Sky Sports

Team news and stats ahead of Southampton vs Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 8pm.

Team news

Ryan Bertrand will return from suspension for Southampton's Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

Oriol Romeu is back after a calf problem and could be ready to start.

Moussa Djenepo has beaten a thigh complaint, while Nathan Redmond is back after recent injury issues too.

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Morgan Sanson could make his Aston Villa debut after joining from Marseille this week.

The midfielder's time with the squad has been limited as he did not feature in Wednesday's defeat at Burnley after signing on Tuesday but he will travel to St Mary's.

Kortney Hause is still battling a foot injury and boss Dean Smith is waiting on the results of a scan, while Wesley (knee) remains out.

• Ollie Watkins exclusive: The perfectionist with non-League learnings

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How to follow

Live Premier League

Southampton vs Aston Villa will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 7.45pm on Saturday; kick-off at 8pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Free highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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Jones Knows' prediction

I'm all over Aston Villa here at 11/8 with Sky Bet in what should be a fantastic game to watch.

We look to have a case of two teams going the opposite way in the Premier League table. Southampton's overperformance in the first half of the campaign now looks to be catching up with them.

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In their first 13 Premier League games this season, they had the best conversion rate in the league at 17 per cent. However, they have scored just two goals in their last six Premier League matches with their conversion rate dropping to 4.2 per cent. In fact, Saints have not scored from open play in that time - Danny Ings' goal vs Liverpool and Stuart Armstrong's goal vs Arsenal both came from James Ward-Prowse assists from set-plays.

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Villa's recent results may suggest a similar pattern to Southampton's drop-off, but their performance data still ranks them as a top-six team, especially their patterns in forward areas. Villa have created the most chances per game in the Premier League this season (12.4) and have had the most shots on target per game this season (5.9). Burnley's smash and grab on Tuesday should not deter punters from losing faith in Dean Smith's exciting side.

JONES KNOWS PREDICTS: 0-2 (8/1 with Sky Bet)

Opta stats

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• 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 are looking to win five consecutive top-flight matches against an opponent for the first time since a run of five against West Ham between 1988 and 1992.
• 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.
• With four goals and five assists so far, Southampton's James Ward-Prowse is enjoying his most productive Premier League season in terms of goal involvements in 2020-21. He made his 250th Premier League appearance against Arsenal last time out, just the fourth player to do so for Southampton in the competition.
• 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.

Pitch to Post Preview - Arsenal vs Man Utd build-up, plus: Man City's title charge, Liverpool's return to form, and problems for Tottenham

In this week's Pitch to Post Preview Podcast Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp joins Peter Smith to look ahead to the big Saturday night clash between Arsenal and Manchester United, and gives his verdict on Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard - and why Man Utd slipped up against Sheffield United.

We also get the inside story on Man City's title pursuit from Sky Sports News reporter Ben Ransom, who explains how one City star has been transformed by Pep Guardiola's methods this season.

And Sky Sports feature writer Adam Bate reflects on Liverpool's much-needed win at Tottenham - and the injuries sustained which could impact both sides. Plus he makes his Pitch for what will happen in the next round of Premier League games…

Listen to the Sky Sports Pitch to Post Podcast on: Spotify | Apple | Castbox

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