Match Preview: Southampton v Villa

by Dek Hogan

Who are we playing?
Southampton on Saturday 5th December at 3pm

Where are we playing?
St Mary's Stadium
Britannia Road
Southampton
SO14 5FP

Can I go? Tickets on general sale last time we looked, though they didn't give us many.

Easy to get to?
From the M3 take the A33 into Southampton. Continue on the A33 until you hit the A3024 Northam Road and turn left onto this towards Northam. Then turn right onto the B3038, Britannia Road for the stadium. Parking is a bitch though.

Train station is about a mile and half from the ground, a half hour stroll or no time at all if you nab a cab

Can I watch it on telly
Saturday 3 o'clocker so you'll need a stream or a pub with a dodgy dish.

Big game?
Meh...

If you still believe that this ramshackle Villa team can claw their way out of the relegation mire, then this is a massive game.

The facts are that we are getting worse by the week, though some may say this is because Garde's new methods are going to take time to bed in.

Villa fans are still haunted by the 6-1 drubbing last season when we were destroyed in a matter of minutes. Many of us fear - particularly after Everton - that another such thrashing could well be on the cards.

It's probably clutching at straws now to believe that Adama or Lozak can come in and make all the difference, if they ever get selected.

The point is, the team has a losing mentality now and Watford demonstrated just how undisciplined they've become as a unit. Watford may have a half decent away record but even an average Villa side should have been able to take something from that fixture.

Even some of the blinkered optimists are talking about coming straight back up rather than surviving.

Perhaps planning for the Championship should start now.

Those pinning their hopes on a January spending spree should ask themselves two questions:

1. In our present predicament, who in their right mind would want to come?

Typical Southampton fan

2. Do you really trust the current regime to make decent signings or will they just carrying on squandering money on players who just aren't up to the job?

Do Southampton boast any famous fans?
Well, theres Craig David and Lucy Pinder but we're not even sure they qualify as famous anymore...

We've got David Bradley off of films and the telly.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
Tricky to guess this one. This website was deeply critical of the way Tim Sherwood kept shuffling his pack. On paper, the side Garde picked to play Watford was arguably the strongest he's got but the performance was so disappointing that it really must be tempting to shake it up again.

It looks like Jack Grealish may be forced to continue his exile but Kozak netted for the Under 21s and you have to wonder just what we have to lose by giving him a try.  Similarly, for all this talk of Adama not being ready is piffle. He terrifies defenders when he's on the ball. It's hard to see how we can afford not to
throw him in.

Koeman

Who's playing for them
Shellshocked after a 6-1 drubbing in the League Cup by Liverpool, no doubt Ronald Koeman will want to make the odd change.




Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Our first ever meeting at St Mary's came in 2001. We triumphed 3-1 that day thanks to goals from George Boateng, Juan Pablo Angel and Mustapha Hadji. Dion Dublin was sent off but this was later rescinded by the FA.

• Our first ever encounter was a League Division Two clash in 1936. We ran out 4-0 victors thanks to goals from Dai Astley, Ronnie Dix, Gordon Hodgson and Frank Broome

• Southampton have beaten us 24 times while we have 28 wins. There have been 24 draws.

• Should we mention Sadio Mane? Best not eh?

Prediction
4-0 to them