Aston Villa host Southampton on Friday evening in what could be described as a must-win game for Steven Gerrard.
The Midlands club have gotten off to a rotten start in the Premier League this season, winning just one of their opening six games, but after an encouraging draw against Manchester City last time out, there are some green shoots emerging at Villa Park.
However, the Villans desperately need to build on this momentum with a win at home against the Saints, but, as with any game in the Premier League, getting a victory is easier said than done.
Villa do head into this one as slight favourites, and with that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting their starting XI for this one.
We’re predicting that Steven Gerrard will make two changes to his team heading into this game – one enforced and one tactical.
We think that Villa will set-up to attack more than they did against City last-time out, so a slight change of shape sees Emi Buendia come in for Douglas Luiz, while Ashley Young replaces the injured Matty Cash at right-back.
Other than that, it’s the same side we saw against City. Ollie Watkins, once again, leads the line, while John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara start in the base of midfield.
Jacob Ramsey plays in the more advanced attacking role, while Leon Bailey starts ahead of Philippe Coutinho after his goalscoring performance against the Champions a fortnight ago.
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