Hasenhuttl says Saints won’t pay special attention to Villa’s Grealish

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Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish will certainly be the one to watch out for in Saturday’s game against Southampton.

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl spoke to the Daily Echo in his pre-match press conference about his side’s plans for Aston Villa star Jack Grealish.

Saints have turned their season around after their 9-0 thumping by Leicester City a few months ago. Hasenhuttl’s men are 12th in the league but things could change very quickly if they aren’t careful. 

The gap between themselves and 19th-place Watford is just seven points, which makes this weekend’s game against Villa hugely important. 

Villa will do all they can to get out of the bottom three and the game against the Saints will potentially be a six-pointer. 

Southampton will have to be wary of Villa and their biggest threat: Grealish. The skipper has been in fine form this season and will be someone Southampton should be wary of, but Hasenhuttl insists he has no special plan for the Englishman. 

He said: “We never do this. We defend ball-orientated, so we are more focused on where the ball is and not Jack Grealish. We never care about single players. Every Premier League team has one or two fantastic players. If you defend together as a team that it doesn’t matter.”

Hasenhuttl’s sides have always focused on the ball while defending but they should be careful of Grealish’s runs. The Villa skipper is deadly when offered space between the lines and, if he finds himself in that position, he is likely to hurt Southampton on Saturday. 

The Saints should also be careful of January signing Mbwana Samatta who has been a real nuisance for the opposition defenders. The Tanzanian has scored once already and he will be looking to get his second to help Villa climb out of the drop zone.