Reeling from a late sucker punch in the Champions League, Aston Villa face a friendlier road trip on Saturday afternoon, when they travel to the coast for a Premier League battle with Southampton.
The Lions return to top-flight action after a 3-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the opening leg of their European quarter-final, while the Saints' identical defeat to Tottenham Hotspur confirmed their record-breaking relegation.
Match preview
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Under the watchful eye of His Royal Highness Prince William, Aston Villa sent the heir to the British throne into hysterics when Morgan Rogers tapped home the opening goal against PSG, who responded through the equally electrifying Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at the Parc des Princes.
Had Villa fans been offered a 2-1 defeat ahead of the first leg, most surely would have accepted such a fate, but the mountain that Unai Emery's men must climb became remarkably steeper when Nuno Mendes added to PSG's advantage in the dying embers.
A two-goal deficit is not insurmountable for Emery against his former employers, though - as he learned when Barcelona astonishingly overturned a 4-0 deficit versus his PSG outfit in the 2017 Remontada - and his Villa side are statistically one of the most in-form teams in the Premier League at the minute.
Indeed, the Lions are one of only three sides in the division to have won each of their last three top-flight games - alongside Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United - most recently surviving a late scare to edge out Nottingham Forest 2-1 and strengthen their grip on a top-seven spot in the Premier League table, where they are also just two points off the top five.
The beating of Forest marked a seventh consecutive victory across all competitions for Villa before their unsuccessful jaunt to Paris, but their struggles immediately after a European night are well-documented; they have won just two of their last nine Premier League matches taking place straight after a Champions League contest.
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That statistic is surely the only crumb of comfort that a doomed Southampton can take ahead of Saturday's mismatch on paper, though, as the Premier League's whipping boys are now simply fighting to avoid becoming the worst team to ever grace the competition.
The side formerly led by Ivan Juric needed to stun Tottenham in gameweek 31 to delay their relegation to the Championship, but a Brennan Johnson brace and Mathys Tel penalty either side of Mateus Fernandes's consolation confirmed what had been inevitable for a long while.
After suffering the earliest relegation in Premier League history - going down with seven games remaining - the Saints quickly parted company with Juric and will see out the rest of the Premier League season under the wing of Simon Rusk, with Adam Lallana as his right-hand man.
Rusk's task is simple on paper - collect two more points to avoid matching or breaking Derby County's lowest-ever total of 11 from the 2007-08 season - but that will be far easier said than done for a Southampton side who have failed to win any of their last 10 home league games.
In fact, another defeat at St Mary's this weekend would see Southampton break another unwanted record - they have already been beaten 12 times on their own patch in the top flight this season, but have never lost as many as 13 home league games in a single campaign before.
The Championship-bound hosts did not embarrass themselves at Villa Park earlier this season by any stretch, but that 1-0 loss means that they have been bested in each of their last four league matches versus the Lions, shipping seven goals and netting zero in that time.
Team News
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As Ross Barkley was able to make the bench for the first-leg loss in Paris following a knee injury, Villa's solitary concern at present is Leon Bailey, who may even be given the green light to feature on Saturday if he can pass a late fitness test.
Matty Cash was withdrawn at half time at the Parc des Princes, but that was a precautionary alteration after an early yellow card, so Emery may therefore have a fully-fit squad at his disposal for the trip to St Mary's.
The ex-Arsenal boss therefore has scope to make several alterations with the second leg in mind, and one player who should benefit is Donyell Malen, who was on target against Forest but was omitted from Villa's UCL squad for the knockout stages.
Similarly, Southampton also head into Saturday's match with a near clean bill of health, as only Charlie Taylor (hip) and Albert Gronbaek - who is struggling with a tendon injury - are taking up beds in the medical bay.
However, Flynn Downes will serve the second of a two-game ban for picking up 10 yellow cards, although Will Smallbone returned from a hip problem against Spurs to bolster the hosts' midfield ranks.
Ex-Villa striker Cameron Archer was given the nod last weekend, but the towering Paul Onuachu - whose ankle is almost fully healed - should now be favoured in front of Fernandes, who could become just the second Southampton player aged 20 or under to score or assist in three straight Premier League games after Kevin Davies in 1997.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens; Walker-Peters, Smallbone, Ugochukwu, Manning; Fernandes; Onuachu, Sulemana
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Garcia, Disasi, Mings, Maatsen; Onana, Tielemans; Malen, Asensio, Ramsey; Watkins
We say: Southampton 1-3 Aston Villa
Villa may have far bigger fish to fry right now, but a visit to a manager-less and morale-less Southampton side offers a prime opportunity to regain some momentum before the visit of PSG.
Even Emery's much-changed team proved too good for high-flying Forest last week, and the Lions should also make light work of the Saints, whose hopes of surpassing Derby's lowest points total will suffer another hit.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
