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Southampton vs Aston Villa

Saints | Official Matchday Programme of Southampton FC | Issue 14 Southampton vs Aston Villa | Premier League Saturday 21st January, 2023 | KO 3pm | St Mary’s

Saints | Official Matchday Programme of Southampton FC | Issue 14
Southampton vs Aston Villa | Premier League
Saturday 21st January, 2023 | KO 3pm | St Mary’s

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tactical<br />

watch BY sam tighe<br />

What shape are <strong>Aston</strong> <strong>Villa</strong><br />

in ahead of this encounter?<br />

If there’s a club in the Premier<br />

League that can match<br />

<strong>Southampton</strong> (and Arsenal)<br />

for high spirits right now, it’s<br />

probably <strong>Villa</strong>. They feel like a<br />

team in a good place and are<br />

steadily climbing the Premier<br />

League table.<br />

Like Saints, they switched<br />

managers just before the<br />

World Cup, hiring Unai Emery<br />

from <strong>Villa</strong>rreal, and it’s had<br />

quite the effect at <strong>Villa</strong> Park:<br />

they’ve taken 13 points from<br />

their last six games, including<br />

wins over Manchester United<br />

and Tottenham Hotspur.<br />

They’ve scored in every game<br />

Emery has presided over and<br />

competed hard in each one too,<br />

with a new tactical blueprint so<br />

far proving a recipe for success.<br />

What is <strong>Villa</strong>’s tactical<br />

identity under Emery?<br />

First and foremost, Emery’s<br />

<strong>Villa</strong> have been defensively<br />

solid. They line up in a 4-4-2<br />

formation that demands<br />

plenty of defensive work rate<br />

from the wingers, while the<br />

centre-backs are protected by<br />

a responsible midfield pivot of<br />

Boubacar Kamara and Douglas<br />

Luiz.<br />

In games against extremely<br />

possession-dominant sides,<br />

like Spurs and United, the<br />

wingers tracked the opposing<br />

full-backs all the way back<br />

while their own full-backs<br />

tucked into a narrow position,<br />

creating a 6-2-2 look. It was<br />

near-impossible to break<br />

down.<br />

To suggest they pride<br />

themselves on clean sheets<br />

would be an understatement;<br />

Tyrone Mings recently<br />

admitted they’re so focused on<br />

that side of the game, they’re<br />

even celebrating offside calls.<br />

On the ball, they play short<br />

from the goalkeeper and<br />

circulate it around the<br />

backline, attempting to bait

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