Marcus Rashford axed in five changes – Aston Villa predicted XI v Southampton
Unai Emery could make as many as five changes to his Aston Villa XI when they face relegated Southampton this weekend.
Villa have been left with a mountain to climb in the Champions League after a 3-1 defeat against PSG, despite taking the lead.
Morgan Rogers gave his side the lead, but the sheer quality of the Ligue 1 giants shone through and prevailed.
Given the short turnaround, and what many would see as a lack of competition, given the season Southampton have had, Emery could make plenty of changes in a bid to rest some players.
Emery to make two defensive changes
Emi Martinez will retain his place in goal, having done as much as he could have to prevent PSG from running away with the game last time out, making eight saves and having to be alert at all times [FotMob].
Matty Cash struggled massively against the French outfit, failing to complete a single cross and recording just five passes before being booked at half time, with Axel Disasi in line to replace him.
| PSG v Aston Villa | Minutes | Tackles won % | Pass accuracy | Duels won | Duels lost |
| Cash | 45 | 33 | 50% | 3 | 5 |
A centre back partnership of Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa is expected to remain the same, while Ian Maatsen could come in for Lucas Digne despite the latter faring quite well.
Boubacar Kamara struggled in his midfield battles against PSG, winning just 54 per cent of his 13 ground duels, and could be replaced by Amadou Onana, while Youri Tielemans should keep his place in the team.
Ollie Watkins returns for Aston Villa
Marco Asensio could be reinstated back into the starting 11 having been forced to sit on the bench against his parent club, while Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey are expected to retain their places.
Marcus Rashford led the line for the Villans, but failed to make it stick, completing just 33 per cent of his dribbles and recording just one touch in the opposition box, with Ollie Watkins likely to come back into the starting 11.