First chance of the game goes Southampton's way. James Ward-Prowse pops a free-kick over the Aston Villa wall but straight into the hands of Tom Heaton.

All Southampton in the early stages. A pretty slow start for the hosts.

And away we go.

Mark Lawrenson
Ex-Liverpool defender on BBC Football Focus

I don't think Dean Smith's side have been playing that badly, and I don't think they will lack any confidence for this game.

They might even have a bit of a swagger against Southampton, because they will believe they should beat them at home.

Prediction: 2-0

Image source, Getty Images

Here come the teams. The atmosphere is buzzing at Villa Park.

The home fans will probably be hoping that Aston Villa can build on their Carabao Cup side against Liverpool earlier this week.

Villa have lost six of their past eight league games, earning just four points - so a victory here would be very timely indeed.

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Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl:"We have a big game against an opponent who has the same points as we do. It is away - we have shown up this season in away games and given some really good performances, so we go there to take something.

"There are a few points in our game where we do things 70% well, but it is not enough in the Premier League. The goal for the next match is that we really try to focus on the defensive game plan for the 90 minutes - or 100 if it is necessary.

"When I see us playing to where we were a month ago, we are more active. That does not mean everything is perfect, but we are really fighting for these points."

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Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith:"We've come through a tough fixture list and now we're coming up against teams that are in and around us.

"Our supporters have been fantastic and, with the exception of Leicester City, nobody has had an easy ride at Villa Park.

"If we win, the world will look a different place. The table can look very different [after the festive period], but it's up to us to perform and get the fans on our side and cheering for us because they've been our 12th man."

Conor McNamara
BBC Match of the Day commentator

Dean Smith is going to be hearing the phrase 'six-pointer' a lot in the next week or so. Villa have three teams below them in the table, and those are his next three opponents.

While this means three highly-pressured games, it is also a huge opportunity. Arguably these are the teams that Villa can beat. All but one of the 15 points earned by them so far have been against sides currently in the bottom half.

If Southampton win here, they will move out of the relegation zone for Christmas. The last time Saints were in the bottom three on Christmas Day was 2004 - they were relegated that season.

Ten minutes until kick-off.

Time to get this show on the road...

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Return here for full text commentary from 14:50 BST.

Image source, BBC Sport

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith makes two changes to the side that lost at Sheffield United last weekend. Douglas Luiz and Conor Hourihane both start in midfield, with Henri Lansbury and Marvelous Nakamba dropping to the bench.

Aston Villa XI: Heaton, Guilbert, Hause, Engles, Targett, Luiz, McGinn, Hourihane, Grealish, El Ghazi, Wesley

Subs: Nyland, Lansbury, Nakamba, Konsa Ngoyo, Trezeguet, Kodjia, El Mohamady

Image source, BBC Sport

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl makes one change to the side that lost at home to West Ham last Saturday with Stuart Armstrong replacing the injured Moussa Djenepo.

Sofiane Boufal returns to the bench after recovering from a toe injury.

Southampton XI: McCarthy, Soares, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Redmond, Long, Ings

Subs: Gunn, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Adams, Romeu, Boufal, Obafemi