Aston Villa fought for the survival in the Premier League during project restart and salvaged themselves with a mere difference of one point from the relegated Watford and Bournemouth. But who would have thought that they would start the new campaign with four wins out of the five games?
A lot of credit goes to their recruitment this season and of course to Dean Smith for keeping up the morale since the dramatic end of last season. This season, their only loss in the competition came against Leeds which was last week. Now, they hosted Southampton for their sixth game in the Premier League looking to get back to the winning ways but got disappointed in a 3-4 defeat.
Southampton have reestablished themselves after losing the first three games in all competitions. A comeback to draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and the 2-0 win against Everton to end their unbeaten run in the Premier League so far reflects upon their massive improvement and work in recent days. Ralph Hasenhüttl has turned the Saints into a fierce high pressing team.
In this tactical analysis, we will examine the tactics and game plan of Southampton and Aston Villa. The following analysis will determine how the events of the match unfolded.
Line-up
Dean Smith made just one change from his 3-0 defeat against Leeds United. Emiliano Martínez played between the sticks and in front of him Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Matt Targett formed the back four. Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Ross Barkley played in the midfield three. Bertrand Traoré started his first league match along with Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins upfront. He was replaced by Mahmoud Trézéguet due to an injury in the 29th minute. Ahmed El Mohamady was the second substitute who came in for Cash.
Southampton started in their preferred 4-4-2 and made just one change from their 2-0 win against Everton. Alex McCarthy took charge of the goal and was guarded by the back four of Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand. Stuart Armstrong, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu and Theo Walcott played in the midfield. Che Adams accompanied Danny Ings up front. Jack Stephens, Ibrahima Diallo and Shane Long came in for Bednarek, Bertrand and Ings respectively. They were all replaced due to injuries.
