Just seen Lawro's prediction. He thinks Villa might just 'mug' us, which I think is fair enough - we all know we're going to lose one someday, but the sign that times have truly changed is that Lawro feels he has to EXPLAIN why he think Saints will lose. Amazing times.
Villa will not mug us. The beauty of football is that any team can slip up, even the best, but the odds against a very very good team and that is Southampton FC right here right now, doing so, is remote. Villa will not mug us.
Well, last time I made a prediction it was that Sunderland would "park the bus". So I confidently predict the same from Villa, going for 1-1
Why are people predicting Villa to score exactly? They can't score, we have the best defence in the league with the most clean sheets and Benteke is suspended. And Delph is out, so no worldie from him either.
Well I also think Villa will lose, but it's not outlandish to suggest they'll win either, because, you know, football an' all that.
Yeah, I said the same against Liecester. These are the teams that have no firepower to hurt us, bar some freak goal.
I looked up a few Villa forums last night. The vast majority of posters (about 90%) not only predicted a thumping Saints win, but that Villa wouldn't trouble Forster. From all the correspondance I came across I would estimate the average scoreline they were predicting was 0-3. This is opposition fans remember. Amazing.
What a win against Aston Villa tonight would mean: * WWWWWWLWWWWW becomes WWWWWWLWWWWWW. Symmetry * We're only 4 points behind leaders Chelsea - meaning the title is in our own hands with two games still to play against Jose's prim donnas * We go NINE points and FIFTEEN goals ahead of fourth placed Manchester United - Champions League anyone? * We put a gap of FOURTEEN points and TWENTY-TWO goals on Liverpool. A team that's also now 4 points off relegation * Even if City beat us the following week - we'll still be in 2nd. * We're 4 wins away from safety with 26 games to play I nicked this from my friends on fb, the fanatical 'Southampton Australian Supporters', who are often to be found meeting for games on tv at 2.45 in the morning, in Melbourne, Adelaide etc
Big game tonight, glad it's finally come round. I actually think for the first time we're under a bit of pressure tonight. Expected to beat a poor Villa side and playing on the Monday night with country watching. A resounding win would go down just lovely.
Amazing that the only teams people might reasonably fear are Chelsea, us and, perhaps, City. United are 4th, but surely no one would feel they are unbeatable. Same for the other usual suspects: Spurs, Liverpool, and Arsenal. I keep making deals with the footballing gods that I want just want one more win, but Aston Villa will definitely be the last (until Man City).
Just type Aston Villa forums into Google, just as I did, and you'll find plenty of evidence. Obviously you'll need to find a thread which talks about the match. That takes a bit more effort than finding a forum in the first place. Here's the first one I came across to start you off: http://www.villatalk.com/index.php/topic/12265-pre-match-thread/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/southampton-boss-ronald-koeman-slams-4680954 According to the Mirror, Koeman launched an angry tirade against the Christmas schedule. Angry tirade...really? Only if angry tirade = raises one eyebrow. Our schedule is crazy and will favour the sides with larger squads, but it is what it is.
https://twitter.com/SouthamptonFC Not many pictures on twitter for this one, so just scroll down and fill your boots with this shot of the away dressing room at Villa.
I just love the photo of the Premier League table. Can't see that often enough. Didn't realise it was 2 points between 10th and 4th don't usually look that far down
