Match Preview: Southampton v Aston Villa

A Southampton fan prepares for Christmas

Who are we playing?

Southampton

Where are we playing?
St Mary's,  Wednesday 7.45pm

Can I go?
Possibly. There's a handful of away tickets available on the night...

Can I watch it live on the telly?

You'll need one of those dodgy web stream thingies or a naughty pub with a foreign satellite box.

Big game?
The bore-draw and woeful performance against Sunderland have probably made it a bigger deal but most neutrals would expect a home victory given Southampton's form this season, so there should be less pressure on our boys.


Do Southampton have any famous fans?
We are really struggling here. Robin Tripp from 70's sitcom Man About The House was a Southampton fan but he is fictional. We are reliably informed that glamourpuss Lucy Pinder is a Saint, but confusingly, she seems to be wearing Villa colours in this picture, so we win.

Who's playing for us?
Lambert might well be scratching his head after what he'd regard as strong Villa line-up looked so out of sorts against the Black Cats.

Once talismanic striker Christian Benteke looks badly off form and Libor Kozak will be pushing hard for a place. We'll have to wait and see whether Marc Albrighton's cameo on Saturday will persuade the boss to go with more width.

Andi Weimann still has hamstring issues so Lambert may opt not to start him.

Clark looked vulnerable in the air in the last game so Lambo may turn to Baker as we try to deal with the Saints aerial threat.

Who's playing for them?
Saints keeper Artur Boruc misses the game having broken his hand while Morgan Schneiderlin misses out with a groin injury.

Pochettino is likely to bring Rickie Lambert, who scored in both games against Villa last season, back into the starting lineup after Pablo Osvaldo's ineffectual performance at Chelsea

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• We last beat Southampton in 2005 with a 3-2 victory at their place. Kevin Phillips and Peter Crouch got their goals, while Carlton Cole, Nobby Solano and Steven Davis scored for us.

• In 1999-2000 season Southampton did the league double over us but we got revenge by knocking them out of both the League Cup and the FA Cup.

• Last season saw our first ever loss at St, Mary's, though we were thumped 4-1

• Southampton haven't lost at home all season.

He said, She said...
Paul Lambert "everything for us is a lot better than last year."

Prediction:

Reckon we might surprise a few and pinch a point.