Aston Villa face Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
After securing three points against Brentford in midweek to end our winless run, Emery will be hoping to see his side build some confidence and momentum now as we look to get back on track.
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That task might be complicated by the suggestion from the Villa boss in his pre-match press conference on Friday that some of his players are struggling with some pain and tiredness, and so there was an expectation that he would make changes for this game to freshen things up and protect some key individuals.
As per the club’s post below, Villa have made four changes to the side that won on Wednesday night, with Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen and Jhon Duran coming in to replace Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne and Ollie Watkins.
How we start to face Southampton this afternoon 👊 #AVLSOU pic.twitter.com/3DMQ3rNLnj
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 7, 2024
It could be argued that more tweaks were possible, but importantly, Emery hasn’t changed too much, which in turn might risk us losing our rhythm and stability that comes with a settled line-up.
Despite the changes, there is real quality and experience throughout the Villa XI, and as Emery has spoken about on numerous occasions previously, it’s important to have squad depth and top options in every position, and that each player is able to come in and do their respective job to help us maintain our way of playing.
There were a lot of positives to take from midweek as we put in an excellent first-half display in particular, and while the weather might be factor at Villa Park this weekend with Storm Darragh causing issues, it’s vital that we make a fast start again and take the game to a struggling Southampton side and pile more pressure on them.