Southampton face Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday as they continue their battle for survival.
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The Saints are currently in the bottom three, but are only behind the Villans on goal difference. This, therefore, is something of a relegation six-pointer.
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Following their loss against West Ham at St. Mary’s Stadium, Ralph Hasenhuttl could ring the changes to his team. Here, we try to predict his starting XI.
In goal, Alex McCarthy should keep his place. Not that he has been particularly impressive – he has a save percentage rate of just 63.3% – but he is still looking better than Angus Gunn, who has a ratio of just 54.5%.
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There could be a change to the defence, as well. Ryan Bertrand is likely to keep his place at left-back, as is Jan Bednarek at centre-back. However, Jack Stephens could be replaced by Jannik Vestergaard. With Wesley likely to start for Villa, the Denmark international could be introduced to combat his aerial prowess – the former Genk forward has won 3.1 duels in the air per match in the league this term. On the right, Cedric Soares should stay in the XI.
During his pre-match press-conference, Hasenhuttl confirmed that Moussa Djenepo will be unavailable this weekend, which could see a shuffling of the pack in midfield. Nathan Redmond could start on the left with James Ward-Prowse moving to the right to cover the Mali international’s absence. That means that Oriol Romeu could come into the middle alongside captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Up front, Danny Ings is probably the first name on the teamsheet right now, but the position alongside him will be causing the 52-year-old plenty of headaches. Both Shane Long and Che Adams have failed to score so far this term, but the former has been given the nod in the last three games and therefore is expected to play once against versus Dean Smith’s men.
In other news, Southampton are interested in this defender.
