Southampton vs Aston Villa Betting Tips

Somewhat predictably after a run of just 1 point in 9 Premier League games, Tim Sherwood was dismissed by the Midlands club on Sunday and Kevin MacDonald will take caretaker charge of this one.

The Scot has spent 17 years at Villa Park in various roles and oversaw an 8 game spell as caretaker boss following the resignation of Martin O’Neill in 2010. That spell included a 6-0 hammering at Newcastle and he was also briefly in charge of Swindon but much like Sherwood, he has been accused of tactical naivety at the highest level.

There will be no pressure on him or his players here though and that might be a welcome change from the struggles of the Premier League. Villa haven’t come close to settling on a starting eleven or even formation yet this season but with nothing to really lose here they might as well have a go and won’t want extra time with weekend Premier League points the clear priority.

Southampton might be inclined to take the competition a bit more seriously, especially given their disappointing early European exit. They named a strong side and were crushing 6-0 winners at Milton Keynes Dons in the last round and also hit 6 against Villa when they visited St Mary’s in May.

The Saints are in good form too having gone 5 unbeaten in all competitions including 4 points from games against Chelsea and Liverpool. They will fancy their chances of putting this Villa defence to the sword again here and there looks to be value in backing there to be over 2.5 goals in this one at 4/5.

Perhaps the most surprising stat ahead of this game is that Villa have only failed to score in 1 of their last 10 away matches and they netted twice in recent visits to Leicester and Liverpool but still ended up losing.

An away goal here then would be no surprise and Southampton have conceded in 5 of their last 6 home games. However the hosts should still be able to control this game and are good value for a 3-1 win at 11/1.