Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran
Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran (Image: Getty Images)
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has named his starting XI to face Southampton at Villa Park.
He has made four changes from the side which beat Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday night. In comes Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen and Jhon Duran as Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne and Ollie Watkins drop to the bench. Amadou Onana returns to the matchday squad after recovering from a foot injury.
From back to front, Emi Martinez starts in goal behind a defence of Ezri Konsa, Carlos, Torres and Maatsen. Boubacar Kamara continues in midfield alongside Youri Tielemans, while Leon Bailey plays from the right as Morgan Rogers and John McGinn support striker Duran.
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Villa are unbeaten in all 11 Premier League fixtures against promoted sides under Emery, winning nine and drawing two. Southampton have lost their last three Premier League matches against Villa without scoring, but their total of 16 wins in 42 Premier League meetings is their joint-most against any side, along with Everton and Newcastle.
The Saints are only the seventh team to lose 11 of their opening 14 Premier League matches in a season. The previous six sides were all relegated. They earned their first away point of 2024-25 with a 1-1 draw at Brighton last weekend. Russell Martin's side are winless in 14 top-flight games on the road since beating Chelsea 1-0 in February last year.
Villa XI: Martinez, Konsa, Carlos, Pau, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, Bailey, McGinn, Rogers, Duran.
Subs: Olsen, Cash, Mings, Digne, Barkley, Onana, Buendia, Philogene, Watkins.
Southampton XI: Lumley, Walker-Peters, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Manning, Downes, Fernandes, Dibling, Armstrong, Archer.
Subs: McCarthy, Edwards, Taylor, Sugawara, Aribo, Fraser, Amo-Ameyaw, Kamaldeen, Brereton Diaz.
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