Preview: Aston Villa vs. Southampton

Aston Villa return to Premier League action on Saturday as they look to recover from their surprise 3-1 defeat against Bradford City on Tuesday night.

That setback in the Capital One Cup semi-final has undone the improvement in results in their previous two games and manager Paul Lambert will have to motivate his side ahead of their clash with relegation rivals Southampton.

Lambert is expected to recall goalkeeper Brad Guzan in place of Shay Given, who has been selected for Villa's cup matches this season, but Darren Bent is a doubt after coming off injured during midweek.

Southampton have failed to win in their last five matches and they arrive at Villa Park following a heavy 5-1 defeat at home to Chelsea.

Manager Nigel Adkins rested top scorer Rickie Lambert last weekend but he could be recalled to the side in place of Guly do Prado.

Recent form

Aston Villa: LLLDWL

Southampton: WLDDDL

Possible starting lineups

Aston Villa: Guzan; Clark, Bennett, Baker, Lowton; N'Zogbia, Delph, Bannan; Agbonlahor, Benteke, Weimann

Southampton: Boruc; Cork, Yoshida, Fonte, Shaw; Puncheon, Davis, Schneiderlin, Ramirez; Lambert, Do Prado

Sports Mole says: 2-1