View: Aston Villa must expose glaring weakness in Southampton midfield
Aston Villa host Southampton on Friday evening as Steven Gerrard looks to build on a positive result against Manchester City in their last Premier League fixture.
The South Coast side have had a mixed start to their season and sit just three points above Villa in the table. The Saints have had a leaky defence in the opening weeks of the season having conceded ten goals in six matches.
Four out of the ten goals they have conceded have come from the same issue which Aston Villa must look to exploit on Friday evening.
Two of the goals they conceded against Tottenham on the opening day came from their midfield press being bypassed and the ball being moved quickly forward.
Raheem Sterling’s goal for Chelsea came from a very similar situation and as did Daniel Podence’s finish for Wolves in the Saints’ last fixture.
Below is Dejan Kulusevski’s goal for Tottenham, which highlights perfectly how gaps can be exposed if Southampton’s press is exploited properly.
The image above shows the first phase of the move in the lead-up to the goal. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg receives the ball under pressure with three Southampton midfielders aggressively pressing the ball and the options that Højbjerg has facing backwards.
The Spurs midfielder cleverly turns and leaves three midfielders tracking back towards their own goal and out of position.
Højbjerg moving the ball forward quickly, in turn, forces the Saints’ defence to be stretched and littered with gaps. Emerson exploits the space down the right flank and has a plethora of options to pick out.
Eventually, the ball ends up with Kulusevski who curls home with ease for Tottenham. This example is just one of the four times it has occurred to Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men.
The image above is from Southampton’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea and displays again how the Saints sometimes commit too many midfielders forward in order to win the ball up high.
Chelsea move the ball forward with pace and directness which allows for the Saints’ midfield to be bypassed in a matter of moments.
The quick transition in play doesn’t allow for Southampton’s full-backs to recover as Sterling finds plenty of space in the box to finish smartly.
The likes of Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey must look to move the ball quickly in transition and pick out and utilise Ollie Watkins’ pace in behind.
Furthermore, they must show a high level of intelligence and technical ability to play around Southampton’s intense press.
This Saints side is still developing and learning which means there should be ample chance for Villa’s attacking players to really expose them in transition.
A statement win would really ease the pressure on Gerrard as Villa look to put their poor start to the Premier League season behind them.
In other Aston Villa news, Villa must make move for Conor Gallagher after Thomas Tuchel sacking at Chelsea